A poem by Alexander Pushkin – Pouchkine, Pooshkin (1799-1837), in English translation
I love you; though it makes me beat,
Though vain it seems, and melancholy –
Yet to this shameless, hapless folly
I’ll be confessing at your feet.
It ill becomes me: that I’m older,
Time I should be more sensible…
And yet the frivolous disorder
Fills every jitter of my soul.
Say you’ll be gone; I’m jaded, yawning;
You’re back; I’m sad, I suffer through –
Yet how can I be clear, from owning,
My angel, all my care for you!
When off the stairs your weightless footfall,
Your dress’s rustle, reaches me,
Your voice, as maidenly, as youthful –
I lose my senses instantly.
You smile at me; I’m glad, immensely;
Ignore me; and I’m sad, again;
Your pallid hand will recompense me
For the whole day of utter pain.
When you’re embroidering, or setting
Your eye on something fair, or letting
Your hair amuse you; I’m beguiled;
In silence, reddening, all forgetting
I watch you like a spellbound child.
But then how wretched my existence,
How desolate my jealous pain,
When you set out into the distance
To wander in the cold and rain;
And then your solitary grievings,
Or, in the corner, twosome talks,
Or twosome piano in the evenings,
Or twosome trips, or twosome walks…
Alina! just a little mercy –
I dare not even mention love:
For sins I have been guilty of,
My angel, of your care unworthy…
But feign it! All can be achieved
By that absorbing gaze, believe me…
Oh, it takes little to deceive me –
I cannot wait to be deceived!
translated by: Genia Gurarie
email: egurarie@princeton.edu
http://www.princeton.edu/~egurarie/
Copyright ©:
Genia Gurarie
A few random poems:
- The Sick Man and the Nightingale poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Far Within Us #5 by Vasko Popa
- Civil War Songs
- Олег Григорьев – Вперед не рвись
- Ode To A Nightingale poem – John Keats poems
- The Jacket by Rudyard Kipling
- Гавриил Державин – К Анжелике Кауфман
- Nocturno poem – Ana Chig poems | Poems and Poetry
- Ольга Седакова – Преданья о подвижниках похожи
- Ballade Of Aucassin poem – Andrew Lang poems
- In The Seven Woods by William Butler Yeats
- The Rendezvous
- Наталья Шевченко – Самолёт
- Алексей Жемчужников – Себе
- One Ran Before by Yvor Winters
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Алексей Жемчужников – Почему
- Алексей Жемчужников – Письмо к юноше о ничтожности
- Алексей Жемчужников – Пауза
- Алексей Жемчужников – Памятник Пушкину
- Алексей Жемчужников – Отголосок девятой симфонии Бетховена
- Алексей Жемчужников – Осенью в швейцарской деревне
- Алексей Жемчужников – О, жизнь
- Алексей Хомяков – Русская песня
- Алексей Хомяков – Ritterspruch – Richterspruch
- Алексей Хомяков – Раскаявшейся России
- Алексей Хомяков – Просьба
- Алексей Толстой – Войдем сюда; здесь меж руин
- Алексей Толстой – Вновь растворилась дверь
- Алексей Толстой – Вeсeнние чувства
- Алексей Толстой – Василий Шибанов
- Алексей Толстой – В совести искал я долго обвиненья
- Алексей Толстой – В колокол, мирно дремавший, с налета тяжелая бомба
- Алексей Толстой – В альбом (Стрелок, на той поляне)
- Алексей Толстой – Уж ты нива моя, нивушка
- Алексей Толстой – Уж ласточки, кружась, над крышей щебетали
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works

Alexander Pushkin (1799-1937) was a Russian poet, playwright and prose writer, founder of the realistic trend in Russian literature, literary critic and theorist of literature, historian, publicist, journalist; one of the most important cultural figures in Russia in the first third of the 19th century.