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:
- Rain by Shel Silverstein
- Sonnet LXII by William Shakespeare
- A Poetry Reading At West Point by William Matthews
- Ольга Седакова – В винном отделе
- Василий Тредиаковский – В сем озере бедные любовники
- The Family Monkey by Russell Edson
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Dahin
- Morning by Mark R Slaughter
- Robert Burns: Lines On The Fall Of Fyers Near Loch-Ness.: Written with a Pencil on the Spot.
- Grandeur Of Ghosts by Siegfried Sassoon
- David Cleek by Siegfried Sassoon
- Rhapsody on a Windy Night by T. S. Eliot
- His Confidence by William Butler Yeats
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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
- Robert Burns: Lines On The Commemoration Of Rodney’s Victory:
- Robert Burns: Thanksgiving For A National Victory:
- Robert Burns: Lines Inscribed In A Lady’s Pocket Almanac:
- Robert Burns: On Commissary Goldie’s Brains:
- Robert Burns: The True Loyal Natives:
- Robert Burns: The Soldier’s Return:
- Robert Burns: Meg O’ The Mill : Another Version
- Robert Burns: Meg O’ The Mill:
- Robert Burns: Lovely Young Jessie:
- Robert Burns: Lord Gregory:
- Robert Burns: Open The Door To Me, Oh:
- Robert Burns: Wandering Willie: Revised Version
- Robert Burns: Wandering Willie: First Version
- Robert Burns: Sonnet Written On The Author’s Birthday, : On hearing a Thrush sing in his Morning Walk.
- Robert Burns: Braw Lads O’ Galla Water:
- Robert Burns: On Politics:
- Robert Burns: Poortith Cauld And Restless Love:
- Robert Burns: A Tippling Ballad: On the Duke of Brunswick’s Breaking up his Camp, and the defeat of the Austrians, by Dumourier, November 1792.
- Robert Burns: Here’s A Health To Them That’s Awa:
- Robert Burns: Duncan Gray:
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
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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.