Sergey Esenin
Though by another you be drained...

Though by another you be drained,
For me remains the glint mysterious
Of your long tresses, there remains
Your languid eyes' autumnal weariness.

Age of maturity! I vow
You're dearer now than youth or summer.
In my imagination now
You charm the poet in me doubly.

At heart I'll never tell а lie.
Therefore I may say without flinching,
When boastfulness needs а reply,
That with my hooligan ways I've finished.

It's time to break with mischief now
And recklessness that bubbles over.
I have already drunk enough
Of а brew that makes the bloodstream sober.

September has tapped on my pane
With purple osier-bough advising
Me I should be prepared to greet
Its uncapricious soft arrival.

With much I now have made my peace
Without loss and without compulsion.
The cemeteries different seem,
So do the cottages — and Russia.

With clearer eyes I look around,
The answer always is the same one:
That you alone, sister and friend,
Could be the poet's true companion,

That I could sing to you alone,
Stability to me imparting,
Of twilight hours upon the road
And hooligan habits departing.

Translated by Peter Tempest