Songs

Brozhu li ia vdol’ ulits shumnykh,
Whenever I stroll down noisy streets,
Vkhozhu l’ vo mnogoliudnyi khram,
Or enter a crowded church,
Sizhu l’ mezh iunoshei bezumnykh,
Or sit ’midst frenzied youths,
Ia predaius’ moim mechtam.
I surrender to my imagination.

Ia govoriu: promchatsia gody,
I say to myself: the years will rush by,
I skol’ko zdes’ ne vidno nas,
And however many of us there still are,
My vse soidem pod vechny svody -
We will all descend through the gates of eternity –
I chei-nibud’ uzh blizok chas.
And for some, the hour is close to hand.

Gliazhu l’ na dub uedinennyi,
Whenever I stare at a solitary oak tree,
Ia mysliu: patriarkh lesov
I think to myself: this patriarch of the forests
Perezhivet moi vek zabvennyi,
Will outlive my soon-to-be-forgotten age,
Kak perezhil on vek ottsov.
Just as it has already outlived that of my fathers.

Mladentsa l’ milogo laskaiu,
Whenever I embrace a babe-in-arms,
Uzhe ia dumaiu: prosti!
I am already thinking: adieu!
Tebe ia mesto ustupaiu:
I yield my place to you:
Mne vremia tlet’, tebe tsvesti.
As time bids me decay, it bids you bloom.

Den’ kazhdyi, kazhduiu godinu
I have grown used to contemplating
Privyk ia dumoi provozhdat’,
Every day and every year,
Griadushchei smerti godovshchinu
Trying to discern within them
Mezh nikh staraias’ ugadat’.
The anniversary of my impending death.

I gde mne smert’ poshlet sud’bina?
And where will I be when death calls?
V boiu li, v stranstvii, v volnakh?
In battle, or journeying by land or sea?
Ili sosednjaja dolina
Or will some neighbouring valley
Moi primet okhladelyi prakh?
Accept my cold ashes?

I khot’ beschuvstvennomu telu
And whilst the insensible body
Ravno povsiudu istlevat’
Cares not where it is fated to decay,
No blizhe k milomu predelu
I’d nonetheless rather find eternal rest
Mne vse b khotelos’ pochivat’.
Near to my native land.

I pust’ u grobovogo vkhoda
Where youthful life might play
Mladaia budet zhizn’ igrat’
By the entrance to my tomb,
I ravnodushnaia priroda
And indifferent nature might shine
Krasoiu vechnoiu siiat’.
With its eternal beauty.