"Osip Mandelstam. Tristia (tranlsation by Ilya Shambat) (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

But what's the point, you gorgeous Georgian lady,
Of shaking coffin's ashes from the sky?
One fluffy snowflake, its beauty fading,
Melted upon the lashes of your eye.

And then you bowed the neck so short and tender.
There is no brooche -- no Roman lady more.
I pity the dark-bodied Tinotina --
A Rome for girls upon the Nieva's shore.



x x x

Hellenes were readying for war
Over a gorgeous island Salamin.
Overtaken fully by the foe
From Athens' harbor it was seen.

And now the friends and islanders
Fill our ships with their toil.
Englishmen did not crave
Sweetness of Europe's soil.

O Europe, you, the new Hellene,
Guard Pereas and Acropolis.
We don't need presents from the island,
A forest of unwelcome ships.



x x x


I
I'm feeling chilly. The transparent spring
Dresses Petropolis in greenish down
But, like a jellyfish, Nieva's blue waves
Revulse me slightly and bid me calm down.
Upon the shores of this great northern river
The automobiles with headlights head out far
Dragonflies soar and steely-winged bugs shiver,
Above us mingle golden heads of stars.
But not one star will murder probably
The heavy emerald waters of the sea.



II