Hira Singhs Farewell To Burmah

On the wooden deck of the wooden Junk, silent, alone, we lie,

With silver foam about the bow, and a silver moon in the sky:

A glimmer of dimmer silver here, from the anklets round your feet,

Our lips may close on each other’s lips, but never our souls may meet.

For though in my arms you lie at rest, your name I have never heard,

To carry a thought between us two, we have not a single word.

And yet what matter we do not speak, when the ardent eyes have spoken,

The way of love is a sweeter way, when the silence is unbroken.

As a wayward Fancy, tired at times, of the cultured Damask Rose,

Drifts away to the tangled copse, where the wild Anemone grows;

So the ordered and licit love ashore, is hardly fresh and free

As this light love in the open wind and salt of the outer sea.

So sweet you are, with your tinted cheeks and your small caressive hands,

What if I carried you home with me, where our Golden Temple stands?

Yet, this were folly indeed; to bind, in fetters of permanence,

A passing dream whose enchantment charms because of its trancience.

Life is ever a slave to Time; we have but an hour to rest,

Her steam is up and her lighters leave, the vessel that takes me west;

And never again we two shall meet, as we chance to meet to-night,

On the Junk, whose painted eyes gaze forth, in desolate want of sight.

And what is love at its best, but this? Conceived by a passing glance,

Nursed and reared in a transient mood, on a drifting Sea of Chance.

For rudderless craft are all our loves, among the rocks and the shoals,

Well we may know one another’s speech, but never each other’s souls.

Give here your lips and kiss me again, we have but a moment more,

Before we set the sail to the mast, before we loosen the oar.

Good-bye to you, and my thanks to you, for the rest you let me share,

While this night drifted away to the Past, to join the Nights that Were.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

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 

• Федор Сологуб – В лес пришла пастушка by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – В камине пылания много by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – В иных веках, в иной отчизне by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – В этот час by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – В его саду растет рябина by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Терцинами писать как будто очень трудно by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Тепло мне потому, что мой уютный дом by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Тень решётки прочной by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Там, внизу, костры горели by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Так же внятен мне, как прежде by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Так нежен был внезапный поцелуй by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Святых имен твоих не знаю by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Своеволием рока by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Светлый пир by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Светлый дом мой всё выше by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Сверкайте, миги строгих дней by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Солнце, которому больно by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Собака седого короля by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Снова саваны надели by Фёдор Сологуб
• Федор Сологуб – Снежное поле бесшумно by Фёдор Сологуб

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works