Владислав Ходасевич
(1886-1939)
Ласточки
Имей
глаза — сквозь день увидишь ночь,
Не озаренную тем воспаленным диском.
Две ласточки напрасно рвутся прочь,
Перед окном шныряя с тонким писком.
Вон
ту прозрачную, но прочную плеву
Не прободать крылом остроугольным,
Не выпорхнуть туда, за синеву,
Ни птичьим крылышком, ни сердцем подневольным.
Пока
вся кровь не выступит из пор,
Пока не выплачешь земные очи —
Не станешь духом. Жди, смотря в упор,
Как брызжет свет, не застилая ночи.
June 18-24, 1921
d
Literal
Translation
Swallows
Have the eyes—through day you’ll
see the night,
Not illumined by that fiery
disc.
Two swallows in vain go
exploding away,
Darting in front of the window
with a faint chirp.
That transparent but firm
membrane up there
Cannot be punctured by an
acute-angled wing,
You can’t flit off there, beyond
the blue,
Neither by way of an avian wing,
nor a subdued heart.
Until all the blood has
overflowed your pores,
Until you’ve cried out your
earthly eyes—
You won’t become a spirit. Wait,
looking point blank
At how the light spurts forth,
without obscuring the night.
d
Literary
Translation/Adaptation by U.R. Bowie
Swallows
Know how to look—and night
you’ll spy through day,
Though night is lacking light
from sun-disc’s fire.
Two swallows rupture air in
their vain way,
Dart by my window, chirp, and
then retire.
No sharply angled wing can
puncture through
That membrane tough, transparent
but secure;
By way of birdie’s wing, by way
of heart demure,
No one can flit-swoop off beyond
the blue.
Until you’ve bled with all your
bloody might,
Until you’ve cried all tears from
earthly eyes,
You won’t become pure spirit;
wait, surmise,
Stare at the light that spatters
forth sidewise,
The kind of light that does not
smother night.
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