...No grass ever grows
Making baskets for us
Is their lives’ sole purpose —
Making baskets from the straw,
Weightless basket service.
On the moon, twilight looms
Houses are neater
On the moon, no homes,
Only pigeon quarters
Bluish homes — bluish homes —
Wondrous pigeon quarters...
…На луне не растёт
Ни одной былинки;
На луне весь народ
Делает корзинки —
Из соломы плетёт
Легкие корзинки.
На луне — полутьма
И дома опрятней;
На луне не дома —
Просто голубятни;
Голубые дома —
Чудо-голубятни.
«You flow like a river with your strange name / And your asphalt transparent like water in a river. / Oh my Arbat, / you are my vocation, / You are my joy and my misfortune. / / Your pedestrians are not exalted people, / Their heels pound...»
«The music of the soul is ever fainter, / the music of the attack is ever more resonant. / But don’t hasten (to comment) on that: / so as not to be deceived in the darkness, / that the music of the attack is more resonant, / and the music of the soul ever fainter. / / the louder is t...»
«No matter how they insulted our courtyard, it’s in a classic period. / No way of coping with it now even though it’s been disarmed. / There’s Volodya in the courtyard / with his silver strings, / his golden fingers, his voice is needed. No matter how they fought against the guitar, th...»
«The Roman empire in its period of decline / retained the appearance of firm order. / The chief was in place, his comrades-in-arms by his side, / life was fine, judging by the reports. / / But critics will say that the word “comrades-in-arms” isn’t a Roman item, / that this mistake...»