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Boris Pasternak
(1890-1960)
Translation into Modern Russian
of Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 73
То время года видишь ты во мне,
Когда из листьев редко где какой,
Дрожа, желтеет в веток голизне,
А птичий свист везде сменил покой.
Во мне ты видишь бледный край небес,
Где от заката памятка одна,
И, постепенно взявши перевес,
Их опечатывает темнота.
Во мне ты видишь то сгоранье пня,
Когда зола, что пламенем была,
Становится могилою огня,
А то, что грело, изошло дотла.
И, это видя, помни: нет цены
Свиданьям, дни которых сочтены.
d
Literal Translation
You see in me that time of year (season)
When of the leaves only one or two,
Tremble yellow amidst the nakedness of branches,
And [silent] calm has replaced the sound of birdsong.
In me you see the pallid edge of the skies,
Where of the sunset [there remains] little but a memory
[memorandum],
And, gradually achieving ascendancy,
Darkness seals them [the skies] up.
In me you see the burning away of a tree stump,
When cinders that were flame
Become the grave of the fire,
And that which warmed one has dissipated into ashes.
And seeing [all of] this, remember: priceless
Are the meetings [time spent together] of those whose days are
numbered.
d
Literary Translation/Adaptation
(into Modern English) by U.R. Bowie
You look at me and see that time of year
When withered leaves await their sad decease,
When yellowed, trembling, hang they on in fear,
And sounds of birdsong yield to silent peace.
You look at me and see the sky’s pale rim,
Where sunset’s light diminished fades away,
And gradually, as dimmer goes more dim,
Dark night seals up the doors of what was day.
In me you see a burning stump expire,
You watch the embers that just now were flame,
As they become the grave of what was fire,
And ashes victory over warmth proclaim.
And seeing this, remember, precious be
The time that’s all too short for you and me.
d
Modern English Paraphrase
(from website No Sweat Shakespeare)
