Monday, June 29, 2020

BUNIN'S SAIL AND LERMONTOV'S SAIL. Translation of Poems by Ivan Bunin and Mikhail Lermontov, "The Sail," "Парус"

Artwork by Ivan Aivazovsky, A ship at anchor, Made of oil on canvas


       150 ЛЕТ СО ДНЯ РОЖДЕНИЯ ИВАНА АЛЕКСЕЕВИЧА БУНИНА: 1870-2020



Ivan Bunin
(1870-1953)

Парус
Звездами вышит парус мой,
Высокий, белый и тугой,
Лик богоматери меж них
Сияет, благостен и тих.

И что мне в том, что берега
Уже уходят от меня!
Душа полна, душа строга –
И тонко светятся рога
Младой луны в закате дня.
                                     September 14, 1915

d

Literary Translation/Adaptation by U.R. Bowie

The Sail
Embroidered all in stars, my sail
Stands tall and white, both taut and frail;
Between the stars there glows the Face
Of Mother Mary, full of grace.

What do I care if shores and sphere
Are fading, soon to disappear!
My soul’s replete, my soul’s austere,
And horns of fresh moon in the skies
Illume my path as sun’s glow dies.

d

Михаил Лермонтов
(1814-1841)
Парус
Белеет парус одинокой
В тумане моря голубом!..
Что ищет он в стране далекой?
Что кинул он в краю родном?..

Играют волны — ветер свищет,
И мачта гнется и скрыпит…
Увы! он счастия не ищет
И не от счастия бежит!

Под ним струя светлей лазури,
Над ним луч солнца золотой…
А он, мятежный, просит бури,
Как будто в бурях есть покой!
1832

d
Literary Translation/Adaptation by U.R. Bowie

The Sail
A lone white sail that glistens, gleams,
On seascape haze cerulean blue.
What distant realms attract his dreams?
In dear homeland what’s left to rue?

The billows surge, the winds are shrieking,
The creaking mast writhes in distress,
Alas, not happiness he’s seeking,
Nor flight from once-sought happiness.

Beneath him azure water’s streaks,   
Above him sun without surcease . . .
While he, wild one, for tempests seeks,   
As if in tempests there were peace.

d
Translator’s Note
Even though writing his poem some seventy-five years after Lermontov wrote his, Bunin could not have picked his title, “The Sail,” without a background glance at such a well-known poem. That’s why I’ve included Lermontov’s poem here for comparison’s sake.










1 comment: