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.
Когда октябрьский нам готовил временщик
Ярмо насилия и злобы,
И ощетинился убийца-броневик,
И пулеметчик низколобый
— Керенского распять! — потребовал солдат,
И злая чернь рукоплескала:
Нам сердце на штыки позволил взять Пилат,
И сердце биться перестало!
И укоризненно мелькает эта тень,
Где зданий красная подкова;
Как будто слышу я в октябрьский тусклый день:
— Вязать его, щенка Петрова!
Среди гражданских бурь и яростных личин,
Тончайшим гневом пламенея,
Ты шел бестрепетно, свободный гражданин,
Куда вела тебя Психея.
И если для других восторженный народ
Венки свивает золотые, —
Благословить тебя в далекий ад сойдет
Стопами легкими Россия.
«1 Divine, childish-plain / The dress is, and short to the plait. / How the sides of a pyramid / Rush sides from the belt. What big rings there are / On the fingers little and dark! / What big buckles there are / On the tiny shoes! And people eat and argue, / And people are playing c...»
«2 She stands, throwing back the throat, / And bit the mouth in blood. / And set the hand against bosom — / The left one - where there is love. "On your knees!" — "What to you / Are my knees that I should bend, / Abbot?" With these words / Her last night Carmen did end.»
«The first day I recall, ferocity of childhood, / Exhaustion and the darkness of the gulp divine, / The carelessness of arms, the heartlessness of heart, / That fell onto the chest, like hawk, like stone. And now — this time — trembling from heat and pity, / One: to howl like wolf, one:...»
«Night. North-East. The soldiers cry. Waves roar. / They bombed a wine warehouse. Along the walls, / Through ditches, runs a precious torrent / And in it dances bloody moon. The trunks of the poplars are mad. / Mad also in the night, birds sing. / Empty, yesterday's monument to the tsar, /...»