The Water-Nymph poem – Alexander Pushkin

A poem by Alexander Pushkin – Pouchkine, Pooshkin (1799-1837), in English translation

In lakeside leafy groves, a friar

Escaped all worries; there he passed

His summer days in constant prayer,

Deep studies and eternal fast.

Already with a humble shovel

The elder dug himself a grave –

As, calling saints to bless his hovel,

Death; nothing other; did he crave.

So once, upon a falling night, he

Was bowing by his wilted shack

With meekest prayer to the Almighty.

The grove was turning slowly black;

Above the lake a mist was lifting;

Through milky clouds across the sky

The ruddy moon was softly drifting,

When water drew the friar’s eye…

He’s looking puzzled, full of trouble,

Of fear he cannot quite explain,

He sees the waves begin to bubble

And suddenly grow calm again.

Then — white as first snow in the highlands,

Light-footed as nocturnal shade,

There comes ashore, and sits in silence

Upon the bank, a naked maid.

She eyes the monk and brushes gently

Her hair, and water off her arms.

He shakes with fear and looks intently

At her, and at her lovely charms.

With eager hand she waves and beckons,

Nods quickly, smiles as from afar

And shoots, within two flashing seconds,

Into still water like a star.

The glum old man slept not an instant;

All day, not even once he prayed:

Before his eyes still hung and glistened

The wondrous, the relentless shade…

The grove puts on its gown of nightfall;

The moon walks on the cloudy floor;

And there’s the maiden; pale, delightful,

Reclining on the spellbound shore.

She looks at him, her hair she brushes,

Blows airy kisses, gestures wild,

Plays with the waves; caresses, splashes –

Now laughs, now whimpers like a child,

Moans tenderly, calls louder, louder…

“Come, monk, come, monk! To me, to me!..”

Then; disappears in limpid water,

And all is silent instantly…

On the third day the zealous hermit

Was sitting by the shore, in love,

Awaiting the delightful mermaid,

As shade was covering the grove…

Dark ceded to the sun’s emergence;

Our monk had wholly disappeared –

Before a crowd of local urchins,

While fishing, found his hoary beard.

translated by: Genia Gurarie

email: egurarie@princeton.edu

http://www.princeton.edu/~egurarie/

Copyright ©: 
Genia Gurarie

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Poems in English 

• Calais, August 1802 by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Calais, August 15, 1802 by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• By The Side Of The Grave Some Years After by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• By The Seaside by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• “By Moscow Self-Devoted To A Blaze” by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• “Brook! Whose Society The Poet Seeks” by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• British Freedom by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• “Brave Schill! By Death Delivered” by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Bothwell Castle by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book Twelfth [Imagination And Taste, How Impaired And Restored ] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book Thirteenth [Imagination And Taste, How Impaired And Restored Concluded] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book Third [Residence at Cambridge] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book Tenth {Residence in France continued] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book Sixth [Cambridge and the Alps] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book Seventh [Residence in London] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book Second [School-Time Continued] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book Ninth [Residence in France] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book Fourth [Summer Vacation] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book Fourteenth [conclusion] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth
• Book First [Introduction-Childhood and School Time] by William Wordsworth by William Wordsworth

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