Not to set fire to myself
or be burned like Avvakum,
I do what I can
to chase away thought.
I now orbit the earth
in low-level flight,
life’s burdens and vanities
far out of sight.
Чтоб не быть самосожженцем,
Или Аввакумом,
Я усилием последним
Прогоняю думы.
Я на бреющем полете
Землю облетаю,
И тщеты земной заботы
Я теперь не знаю.
«Woman's chest! The soul's frozen breath — / Woman's reason! Wave, that by surprise / Was caught — and always by surprise / Having caught up to you — seen by God's eyes! Playpen of the despising and despised / Has quieted. — Woman's chest! — Yielding was / An armament! — I...»
«1 Not with silver I came, / Not with amber I came, / Not as a king I came, / As a shepherd I came. Here's air of hills of mine, / Here's of two eyes of mine / Sharp gaze — and of fires / Red glare and of dawns of mine. Where's wax — that is the fur? / Through hole I won't turn!...»
«2 Three kings, / Three bins / With precious gifts. The first bin — / All the earth / With indigo seas. Second bin: / Noah within / With an ark with beasts. And within? / That third bin? / What is there, my king? Gives the king, / "Holy's my light" / Don't know what it mean...»
«S. E. How comes into the middle / In battles of the Don — / Thus my dream is with you / In cities over the ocean. For the paper dust they'll take / Bookcase from the wall. / All's for sale, and nonetheless / Memory's not for sale. In a green wood full of firs / There's no such st...»