I
I had lots of fun today:
First the thief who pinched a pullet
From that hag across the way;
Then the horse — they tried to pull it —
Jumped and bolted like a bullet;
And the kite has flown away.
But — the thief is no more free,
They have locked him in a cell;
Found the kite beneath the tree;
Caught the horse — and all is well:
I regain my private hell
In its former symmetry.
2
I wait: a car might go berserk;
Some gaping loafer would be killed;
The dusty road will be bespilled
With patterns of the bloody work.
And then disasters will abound,
Upheavals, lunacy, and waste;
A star will fall and hit the ground,
And water have a bitter taste.
Dreams will not stifle me at night.
All that I wanted will be done,
And angels will put out the sun,
As at dawn — superfluous light.
I
Нынче день такой забавный:
От возниц что было сил
Конь умчался своенравный;
Мальчик змей свой упустил;
Вор цыпленка утащил
У безносой Николавны.
Но — настигнут вор нахальный,
Змей упал в соседний сад,
Мальчик ладит хвост мочальный,
И коня ведут назад:
Восстает мой тихий ад
В стройности первоначальной.
II
Все жду: кого-нибудь задавит
Взбесившийся автомобиль,
Зевака бледный окровавит
Торцовую сухую пыль.
И с этого пойдет, начнется:
Раскачка, выворот, беда,
Звезда на землю оборвется,
И станет горькою вода.
Прервутся сны, что душу душат.
Начнется все, чего хочу,
И солнце ангелы потушат,
Как утром — лишнюю свечу.
«Onto my barely living chest, / The stone of the verdict fell. / But I was ready for this test, / Somehow, I’ll bear this hell. So much that I must do alone: / I’ll start by erasing the past, / I’ll turn my living soul to stone, / And learn to live, at last. Or else... The summer,...»
«I loved you, and that love to die refusing, / May still — who knows! Be smoldering in my breast. / Pray, be not pained — believe me, of my choosing / I’d never have you troubled nor yet distressed. I loved you mutely, hopelessly and truly, / With shy yet fervent, tenderness aglow; / ...»
«I loved you; and I probably still do, / And for awhile the feeling may remain — / But let my love no longer trouble you: / I do not wish to cause you any pain. I loved you; and the hopelessness I knew / The jealousy, the shyness — though in vain — / Made up a love so tender and so t...»
«I loved you; and perhaps I love you still, / The flame, perhaps, is not extinguished; yet / It burns so quietly within my soul, / No longer should you feel distressed by it. Silently and hopelessly I loved you, / At times too jealous and at times too shy. / God grant you find another who ...»