Stirred by the first faint ice-free pulse,
The forest, grumbling, clings to winter's sleep
But spring's own pearls, strung onto threads of green
Quiver with life at every breath of wind.
Like tender human babe in swaddling clothes
The newborn nestled in her funneled leaf,
And now within her maiden bower she grows
Fragrant, vulnerable, exquisite.
Fragile flower and thick limbed forest share
The bitter sweetness of the fevered spring,
The agony of life's slow-thawing veins
The ecstasy of life's thrusting growth.
Чернеет лес, теплом разбуженный,
Весенней сыростью объят.
А уж на ниточках жемчужины
От ветра каждого дрожат.
Бутонов круглые бубенчики
Еще закрыты и плотны,
Но солнце раскрывает венчики
У колокольчиков весны.
Природой бережно спеленатый,
Завернутый в широкий лист,
Растет цветок в глуши нетронутой,
Прохладен, хрупок и душист.
Томится лес весною раннею,
И всю счастливую тоску,
И все свое благоухание
Он отдал горькому цветку.
«In days gone by, when all of life's / Impressions offered me new thrills: / A murmurous grove, a maiden's eyes, / The nightingale in twilit hills.... / When my sublimest aspirations / For freedom, glory, love and art / Instilled of holy inspiration, / So stirred the blood and spurred t...»
«Why would your sublime pencil draw / The features of my negroid face? / Though meant for future eyes, the devil / Has advocates for its disgrace. Draw Miss Olénina instead. / When inspiration flames the heart, / Nothing but youth and beauty ever / Should summon genius to art.»
«How many of earth’s oceans I’ve sailed, oceans / ancient, gay, foam-covered; / how many matchless nights and days / have gone guiding caravans across the steppes... How we laughed, then, / my Muse and I, free... / Rhymes flew together like birds, / so many — I don’t dare remembe...»
«In that magic forest, towering trees / Unexpectedly come forward from the haze. Out of the earth, roots spring from other roots, / Like the arms of the dwellers of burial vaults. Under the cover of the blazing autumn leaves / Lonesome giants, trolls, and lions used to live. Here sailors ...»