Sergey Esenin
Out-up is a crescent; down, a wind is blowing...

Out-up is a crescent; down, a wind is blowing.
Settling poplar wool is silvery and glowing.

Far ‘talianka* sobbing, solitary descant,
Is so sweetly homey and so sadly distant.

Crafty runs now giggle, now burst out crying.
Where are you, my linden? Age ol' mine, where are you?

Once, I also used to go to see a honey,
Fanning out ‘talianka, in the morn on Sunday.

Only I mean nothing to that honey these days.
Have to laugh and cry to someone else’s ditties.

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* ‘talianka (from 'Italian') is an Italian fashion single-row button accordion, popular in Russia in the first half of the 20th century.

Translated by Vyacheslav Chetin