Our grandad’s outlandish dream,
the prison years of our heroes,
our hope and our heartfelt lament,
our prayer we hardly dared utter –
our dis-membered
dis-constituted,
dis-banded
Constituent Assembly.
Наших дедов мечта невозможная,
Наших героев жертва острожная,
Наша молитва устами несмелыми,
Наша надежда и воздыхание, —
Учредительное Собрание, —
Что мы с ним сделали?
«I want to live, live to distraction: / To make the present live forever, / Make the impersonal human cover / With flesh whatever now has none! What if life’s torpor stifles me, / What if I suffocate and am dumb — / A happier young man maybe / Will say of me in the years to come: Fo...»
«What, are you grown dull now and perplexed? / Look at me as you used to. / See What in abasement you’ve become, / In the sharp incorruptible light of day! I am myself not what I was — no longer / Distant, proud, and pure and wicked. / I look upon the simple boring earthly round / Wi...»
«At first she turned the whole thing to a joke, / Then understood, and started to reproach me. / Shaking her lovely head from side to side / She started wiping tears away with her handkerchief. And teasing me with her teeth she laughed, / Unexpectedly forgetting the whole thing. / As sudde...»
«I must read only children’s books, / Cherish only children’s thoughts, / Scatter all big things far and wide, / Rise up from the deep-rooted sadness. I’m weary to death of life, / And accept nothing from it, / But I love my unfortunate land / Because I’ve not seen any other. In...»