Land of mine in dire neglect,
Country run to waste,
Fields of hay unmown as yet,
Monastery, estate.
Every cottage is askew,
Five there are in all.
In the setting sun their roofs
Foam as shadows fall.
Under shirt-thatch coverings
Roof-ribs соте to view,
Wind-blown specks of sunlight tinge
Mould of dove-grey hue.
Hitting panes unerringly
Crows past windows weave,
Like а snowstorm, the bird cherry
Waves а blossom-sleeve.
Wasn't your life а fairytale,
А legend of the past
То а late wayfarer told
Ву the feather-grass?
Край ты мой заброшенный,
Край ты мой, пустырь.
Сенокос некошеный,
Лес да монастырь.
Избы забоченились,
А и всех-то пять.
Крыши их запенились
В заревую гать.
Под соломой-ризою
Выструги стропил,
Ветер плесень сизую
Солнцем окропил.
В окна бьют без промаха
Вороны крылом,
Как метель, черемуха
Машет рукавом.
Уж не сказ ли в прутнике
Жисть твоя и быль,
Что под вечер путнику
Нашептал ковыль?
«Pursued by howling foes, / I run a mortal race; / The newly fallen snow / Is so nice for chase. / / The hooting, tally-ho'ing / Surrounds me, high-pitched. / Saliva bubbles and foams in / The jaws of an old bitch. / / The world of rimy snouts, / Of canine bloodshot eyes, / ...»
«To my dear friend K. M. Fofanov1 This day of spring is hot and gold, / The city's entirely blinded by the sun. / I'm once more me, I'm once more young, / I'm once more happy and deep in love. My soul sings and yearns for the countryside. / Everyone I address as a brother... / What boundl...»
«Bells ring, moaning, re-intoning. / Tolling sighs, extolling dreams. / Hills are high and overgrown in / Green; with green each sloping gleams. / Walls have a fresh white exterior: / Orders from Mother Superior! / And the sexton’s daughter waits — / Crying at the convent’s gate. ...»
«Let your Mind’s fire break through the roaring, / Just concentrate, forget the past / And try to grasp that a new era / Has come; you’re now the least, the last. And all you knew, all you discovered / In your books’ jungles, your dream’s shout / Lies as a trace that’s hardly not...»