A Quiet, Dull Place

The sun went down in the west
beyond the promised fields,
and this quiet, dull place
turned dark-blue, fragrant.

The reeds shook faintly,
a bat flew by,
a fish splashed in the still pond...
And those who have a home
started home, toward
blue shutters, toward
ancient armchairs, toward
round tea tables.

Only I stayed outside,
watching this quiet, dull place
where by daylight it is delight to swim,
where at night it is delight to weep,
because, Lord, it is You I love.

Перевод стихотворения Николая Гумилёва «Заводи» на английский язык.

Заводи

Н. В. Анненской

Солнце скрылось на западе
За полями обетованными,
И стали тихие заводи
Синими и благоуханными.

Сонно дрогнул камыш,
Пролетела летучая мышь,
Рыба плеснулась в омуте…
… И направились к дому те,
У кого есть дом
С голубыми ставнями,
С креслами давними
И круглым чайным столом.

Я один остался на воздухе
Смотреть на сонную заводь,
Где днем так отрадно плавать,
А вечером плакать,
Потому что я люблю Тебя, Господи.

Другие переводы:

Испанский
Хосе Матео, Ксения Дьяконова
La bahía
Китайский
Чжэншуо Чжан
小河湾
Польский
Тадеуш Рубникович
Zatoki

А вот еще:

Giraffe

Today I can see that your gaze is especially sad; / Your hands are especially slender, encircling your knees. / But listen to this: far away, far away, near Lake Chad / A giraffe paces elegantly. / / A figure of grace and a lifetime of bliss are his boon, / And a magical pattern adorns...

Giraffe

This evening the look in your eyes is especially sad, / And your arms are especially vine-like entwining your calf. / So listen to me: far away, on the shores of Lake Chad / There roams an exquisite giraffe. / / He is gracefully slender and gifted with bliss from within, / And none on ...

Elephant Calf

My love to you is now a little calfy, / An elephant born in Berlin or Paris / Who tramples with his feet that are all water / About the rooms of a managerie owner. / / Don't try to offer him French buns or bagels, / Don't try to offer him large heads of cabbage / For he can only eat a...

The Sixth Sense

It's priceless - wine, that falls in love with us, / And bread, that sits for us in oven, - priceless treasure, / And priceless is a woman that, at last, / After all torments, we possess for pleasure. / / But what to do with clear light of dawn, / When sky's, like heaven, peaceful, deep...

Manlius

Manlius was thrown down, / The ruling few preserved their wealth, / Their power remains as dour, / As the Tarpeian Rock itself. / / Like the waves Rome was roughing, / Cries were cutting through the gloom, / But the man was gently laughing, / Falling down to meet his doom. / / ...

She

I know a woman, full of silence, / Her bitter weariness from words, / Dwells in mysterious, blinking eyelids / Their widened pupils, secret worlds. / Her soul is greedily wide open / To copper music of sweet verse. / To life, that’s worldly, pleasant often, / She’s deaf and...