I’ve translated the final Shakespeare sonnet.
So let the poet leaving now his dear
Old home start speaking in another year.
Another tongue, in this part of the planet.
We know him as a fellow warrior here:
Defender of truth, peace and freedom. On its
Own feet, in Russian, that great name of honor,
«Shakespeare», means (and not by chance) shake a spear.
Three hundred times, thirty and three this sphere
Called Earth has spun in its predestined manner
Around the sun since it heard his death knell;
Some thrones were overturned and some kings fell...
His proud verse — even in translations’ shell —
Served and still serves both truth and freedom well.
Я перевел Шекспировы сонеты.
Пускай поэт, покинув старый дом,
Заговорит на языке другом,
В другие дни, в другом краю планеты.
Соратником его мы признаем,
Защитником свободы, правды, мира.
Недаром имя славное Шекспира
По-русски значит: потрясай копьем.
Три сотни раз и тридцать раз и три
Со дня его кончины очертила
Земля урочный путь вокруг светила,
Свергались троны, падали цари...
А гордый стих и в скромном переводе
Служил и служит правде и свободе.