Osip Mandelshtam
Overpass

I feel a fear that I cannot defy
In presence of the secretive above.
Like swallow I am happy in the sky
And loftiness of towers I love.
It seems as though the ancient overpass
Over abyss on bending beams that groan
I hear. A snowball grows and gathers mass,
Eternity beats on the hours of stone.

When would it be! But it is not my role
To dance on faded leaves and scream and hiss
And sadness sings in me without control —
I feel an avalanche in heaven's bliss!
And in the bell tower you can find my soul
But music will not save from the Abyss!

Translated by Ilya Shambat