Слушай, поганое сердце,
Сердце собачье моё.
Я на тебя, как на вора,
Спрятал в рукав лезвиё.
Рано ли поздно всажу я
В рёбра холодную сталь.
Нет, не могу я стремиться
В вечную сгнившую даль.
Путь поглупее болтают,
Что их загрызла мечта;
Если и есть что на свете -
Это одна пустота.
Translation:
Listen thou, my foul heart,
Heart of a human beast!
That is for you, thieve and traitor,
I clenched a knife in my fist.
Sooner or later I'll stab thee
Right up to spinal ribs.
I'm unable to seek after
Eternal and rotten fibs.
Let just the fools keep saying
That dreams have torn them to death.
What really is the world
That's nothing. And nothing else.
Notes
Translated by Mikhail Avdeychik
Leave a guest comment (subject to review)
Comments
-
Excellent to have Essenin promoted here. This poem was new to me. I imagine it comes from one of his periods of depression. He drank excessively, and found the life in Russia as the revolution faded into Stalinism unbearable. But to the last he retained an ability to make his poetry sing with clarity. You can read Trotsky's insightful obituary for Essenin on www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1926/1926-essenin.htm
-
holy sh** that is one dark a** poem. i love it
Adding your comment: