Osip Mandelshtam
When red October’s dim time-server for us made...

When red October’s dim time-server for us made
A yoke of bloodshed and of malice,
And armoured car, aggressive, then enforced blockade
And loomed an apish gunner, callous —

And “Crucify Kerensky!” irate soldier brayed,
And angry mob on cue applauded:
Then Pilate let them bring us heart on spike displayed,
And heart had stopped — its veins had clotted!

And there, reproachful shadow flickers in the gloom,
Where crimson horse-shoed buildings cluster;
As if on dull October day in misty bloom
“Now string up Peter’s pup!” they bluster.

Amidst the state’s upheaval and the angry sham,
Enflamed with anger, finer, better
You walked a freeman, brave and giving not a damn,
Where Psyche led you, free of fetter.

And if the frenzied populace were then to tress
A golden wreath to grace another —
May still you find in distant hell descends to bless
With flighty steps our Russian Mother.

Translated by Rupert Moreton