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
A few random poems:
- Владимир Степанов – Масленица
- The Chipmunk by R. L. Karlowsky
- Because I’ve Learned by William Ellery Leonard
- Dawn
- Владимир Маяковский – Порт
- Remembering Mountain Men by William Stafford
- Алексей Толстой – Сижу да гляжу я всe, братцы, вон в эту сторонку
- Федор Сологуб – Я иду путём опасным
- As I lay with Head in your Lap, Camerado. by Walt Whitman
- The Cosmic Eggs
- Владимир Британишский – По-польски вместо слова “светлячок”
- To a Discarded Toast by William Somervile
- Before This Little Gift Was Come by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Dust of Snow by Robert Frost
- Mother by Sachin Yadav (Pen Name: Rahul Nachhiketa)
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
- София Парнок – Ты помнишь коридорчик узенький
- София Парнок – Триолеты
- София Парнок – Тихо плачу и пою
- София Парнок – Сегодня с неба день поспешней
- София Парнок – Рондель
- София Парнок – Он ходит с женщиной в светлом
- София Парнок – Об одной лошаденке чалой
- София Парнок – Кипящий звук неторопливых арб
- София Парнок – И голос окликнул тебя среди ночи
- София Парнок – Газэлы
- София Парнок – Екатерине Гельцер
- София Парнок – Белой ночью
- Шекспир – Ты утоляешь мой голодный взор – Сонет 75
- Шекспир – Запечатленный в слове лик твой милый – Сонет 59
- Шекспир – Сонет 50
- Шекспир – Я так тебя люблю – Сонет 36
- Шекспир – Я не хочу хвалить любовь мою – Сонет 21
- Шекспир – Я лью потоки горьких слез – Сонет 44
- Шекспир – Я дорого ценю любовь твою – Сонет 87
- Шекспир – Весну не перельешь в хрусталь – Сонет 6
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.