Translation of Poem by Vladislav Khodasevich, Владислав Ходасевич, "Слепой," "Blind"

 

Владислав Ходасевич

(1886-1939)

Слепой

Палкой щупая дорогу,
Бродит наугад слепой,
Осторожно ставит ногу
И бормочет сам с собой.
А на бельмах у слепого
Целый мир отображен:
Дом, лужок, забор, корова,
Клочья неба голубого —
Все, чего не видит он.

1923

 

Literal Translation

 

The Blind Man

Feeling out the road with his stick,

The blind man wanders along by guesswork,

Gingerly putting forth a foot

And mumbling to himself.

And in the blind man’s white spots [cataracts]

An entire world is reflected:

A house, a mud puddle, a fence, a cow,

Patches of an azure sky—

All of which he does not see.

 

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                                              Literary Translation/Adaptation by U.R. Bowie

 

Blind

With stick he taps his sad tattoo,

By guesswork makes his way along . . .

He ventures forth one foot, then two,

And muttering, he hums a song . . .

While in his cornea milky-white

God’s whole vast world reflected lies:

A house, a fence, a cow, a kite,

And patches of the azure skies—

All this unseen in his blind eyes.  

 

Poem declaimed in Russian by Grigory Gandlevsky:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-4MeF2Z_Uk&ab_channel=GregoryGandlevsky