Sergey Esenin
Letter to Mother

Mother dearest, is your heart still beating?
Mine is too, so greetings, Mum, to you!
And I hope that over home still fleeting
Evening light unspoken sheds its hue.

Letters tell me you’re a little worried,
Seems my absence causes you distress,
They have seen you weeping as you’ve hurried
Down the road in dated shabby dress.

Probably when evening’s blue and gloomy
Often you suppose the worst’s ensued:
Someone in a tavern’s plunged into me
Finnish blade from someone else’s feud.

It is nothing! Calm yourself now, Mother.
This is but delirium’s painful hold.
I’m no bitter drunk — I’m quite another,
Dying, I won’t leave you in the cold.

i am still as gentle as was ever
And i only dream soon comes the day,
When i from rebellion myself sever,
So return to humble home i may.

i’ll return to see the blossom cover
White our garden in the springtime, though.
Only, please don’t wait with anxious hover
As day’s dawning, like eight years ago.

Don’t be stirring memories of what’s ended,
If it hasn’t happened do not fret —
Both fatigue and loss they find me quite unmended —
Much too early test for me was set.

And attempt to teach me praying’s useless. Futile!
There is no return to former ways.
You’re my only help and solace and I’ll
Spurn not your unspoken shining rays.

So, forget it! Really, do not worry,
Absence shouldn’t lead to your distress,
Do not often let them see you hurry
Down the road in dated shabby dress.

Translated by Rupert Moreton