Radiant ranks of seraphim
Stir the air about our bed.
With their windy wings and dim
Our hot cheeks are comforted.
Low the circling seraphs bend,
And we tremble and rejoice
At hosannas that ascend,
Winged with their unearthly voice.
Cloudy luminous faces hover,
And the wing-swept candles wane.
And our fiery breasts they cover
As with hidden holy rain.
Серафимов вереницы
Наше ложе окружили.
Веют в пламенные лица
Тихим холодом воскрылий.
Серафимы полукругом
Наклонились к изголовью;
Внемлем с радостным испугом
Неземному славословью.
Реют лики светлым дымом,
И крылами гасят свечи,
И кропят дождем незримым
Наши огненные плечи.
«I heard a voice, within me, call / Consolingly: "Come here. Come here. / Leave Russia, leave your sinful, / Godforsaken land, forever. / I shall wash your hands of blood, / I’ll purge your heart of shame. / The pain of insult and defeat / I’ll call by another name." I took no noti...»
«I am not one those who left the land / to the mercy of its enemies. / Their flattery leaves me cold, / my songs are not for them to praise. But I pity the exile’s lot / Like a felon, like a man half-dead, / dark is your path, wanderer; / wormwood infects your foreign bread. But here,...»
«Railing of iron, / A pinewood bed, / How good that I / Need no longer be jealous. This bed of mine is made / With sobbing and with pleading: / Now wander where you want — / And good luck to you! The violence of words / No more assaults your hearing. / There’s no one now to burn...»
«And slander everywhere attended me. / Reptilelike it shuffled through my sleep / And through the dead town, under a murderous sky, / At random seeking food and shelter. Each man’s eye / Flickered with the light of slander, / Now signifying treachery, now innocent fear. / I’m not afra...»