A poem by Alexander Pushkin – Pouchkine, Pooshkin (1799-1837), in English translation
FROM “EUGENE ONEGIN “
28
Yes, foes!-How many days, bethink you,
Since hatred stepped the two between,
And since in hours of thought and leisure,
At work, at table, they have been
As comrades! Now, with purpose dread,
Like men in mutual loathing bred,
Each plans, as though in broadest day
A heavy nightmare on him lay,
The other’s downfall in his heart.
Oh, could they smile but once, while still
Their hands are pure from deed of ill,
And then their sev’ral ways depart!
But worldly hate, like worldly fame,
Shrinks at the breath of worldly shame.
30
-Now, come together!
Calmly, coldly,
Not aiming yet, with haughty glance,
And tread assured and light, though measured,
The combatants four steps advance,
Four steps to death-whereon Eugene,
Still forward moving o’er the green,
(The other likewise) first began
To raise his weapon, fix his man. . . .
N ine steps now of the fateful quest
Were counted-Lensky, with a frown,
His left eye closed, took aim-when down
Oniegin’s thumb the trigger prest. . . .
Reverse the sand-glass!-Lensky sighed-
No more!-and let his pistol glide.
31
He sought his breast with clutching fingers-
He fell, his glance grew dim, and still
It spoke of death alone, not torment,
As when upon some eastern hill
All sparkling in the morning light,
The snow-wreath vanishes from sight.
Oniegin, suddenly a-cold
With horror, saw his shot had told.
He hastened-o’er the poet’s form
He stooped, he called his name-too late!
He was no more-untimely fate!
The flower had perished in the storm-
The music on the broken lyre,
And on the altar-stone, the fire!
32
And there he lay! How unfamiliar
Upon his brow the languid grace !
Beneath his breast the ball had pierced him,
The smoking blood ran down apace,
Thence, where, a few brief moments past,
The pulse of life was bounding fast,
Where hate and hope and love were strong,
And warm emotions wont to throng.
The heart is now a house bereft
Of former inmates-every floor
Is dark and still for evermore,
With dusty panes. The host has left;
And whither went he ? Who shall say ?
His very trace is swept away.
33
To write an epigram, a sharp one,
Your stupid foe to irritate,
Is very nice. To see him lower
His sullen horns, still obstinate,
And, nolens volens, in the glass
With shame behold himself and pass.
Twere nicer still (the fool!), should he
Stand there and gape-” ‘Tis meant for me!”
And silently to dig your foe
An honoured grave, to aim with care-
Your mark, the pallid forehead there,
A generous distance off-we know,
Is nicest . But to see him fall
And lie, is scarcely nice at all!
34
We’ll just suppose, my friend, your pistol Has stretched a young acquaintance dead-
Because of forward look or answer,
Because some idle thing he said
Had stung you o’er the wine last night,
Or even called you out to fight
Himself in boyish anger-well,
What kind of feeling, pray you, tell,
Came o’er you with a whelming rush,
When laid before you on the ground,
Without a motion or a sound,
He stiffens in the sudden hush ?
When dumb, with blinded stare, he lies,
Stone-deaf to your despairing cries ?
A few random poems:
- Morning Song by Sylvia Plath
- Oh Stay At Home, My Lad poem – A. E. Housman
- Владимир Маяковский – Эй
- Владимир Маяковский – Тебе тепло?.. (РОСТА №599)
- Владимир Маяковский – Внимательное отношение к взяточникам
- Огюст Барбье – Отъезд
- Lines on Meeting with Lord Daer by Robert Burns
- Владимир Маяковский – Для чего оттягивают паны мириться?.. (РОСТА №264)
- The Lady’s First Song by William Butler Yeats
- Михаил Лермонтов – Баллада (Куда так проворно, жидовка младая)
- Fortune-Hunter, The – Canto 1 by William Somervile
- Олег Бундур – Про любовь
- Вероника Тушнова – Я поднимаюсь по колючим склонам
- A Meeting by Wendell Berry
- A Dream by Robert Burns
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
- Омар Хайям – Лучше пить и веселых красавиц ласкать
- Омар Хайям – Лучше локон любимой, лаская, схватить
- Омар Хайям – Листья дерева жизни, отпущенной мне
- Омар Хайям – Лик розы освежен дыханием весны
- Омар Хайям – Кумир мой, вылепил тебя таким гончар
- Омар Хайям – Куда уйти от пламенных страстей
- Омар Хайям – Кто розу нежную любви привил
- Омар Хайям – Кто не грешит?
- Омар Хайям – Кто мне скажет что завтра случится со мной
- Омар Хайям – Кто битым жизнью был, тот большего добьется
- Омар Хайям – Красой затмила ты Китая дочерей
- Омар Хайям – Кому там от Любви покой необходим
- Омар Хайям – Коль станешь твердым
- Омар Хайям – Когда ветер у розы подол разорвет
- Омар Хайям – Когда ты для меня слепил из глины плоть
- Омар Хайям – Когда под утренней росой дрожит тюльпан
- Омар Хайям – Когда от жизненных освобожусь я пут
- Омар Хайям – Когда к жизни Любовь меня в мир призвала
- Омар Хайям – Когда фиалки льют благоуханье
- Омар Хайям – Из края в край мы держим к смерти путь
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.