Valery Bryusov
The Stonecutter

— Stonecutter, stonecutter, aproned in white,
What are you building? for whom?
— Hey, do not trouble us. We must build right.
From this a prison will come.

— Stonecutter, stonecutter, levelling true,
What man inside it will grieve?
— Neither your brother, O rich man, nor you;
You’ll never learn how to thieve.

— Stonecutter, stonecutter, who will it be
Weeps thro’ the night wide-awake?
— Maybe my son will, a workman like me.
Such is the load that we take.

— Stonecutter, stonecutter, will his thought rest
On them who built this before?
— Hey, look, a ladder’s no place for a jest!
We know it all. Say no more.

Translated by Cecil Maurice Bowra