Translation of Poem by Ivan Bunin, И. А. БУНИН, "БЕРЕГ," "The Far Shore"

 

 

И. А. БУНИН

(1870-1953)

БЕРЕГ

За окном весна сияет новая.
А в избе — последняя твоя
Восковая свечка — и тесовая
Длинная ладья.

Причесали, нарядили, справили,
Полотном закрыли бледный лик —
И ушли, до времени оставили
Твой немой двойник.

У него ни имени, ни отчества,
Ни друзей, ни дома, ни родни:
Тихи гробового одиночества
Роковые дни.

Да пребудет в мире, да покоится!
Как душа свободная твоя,
Скоро, скоро в синем море скроется
Белая ладья.

August 16, 1909

 

d

 

Literal Translation

The Shore

 

Beyond the window a new spring is gleaming.

And in the peasant hut, is your last

Thin waxen candle, and a long boat

Made of plank boards.

 

They combed you, dressed you up, celebrated you,

Covered your pallid face with a linen cloth;

And went away, for a time leaving

Your mute double.

 

He has no first name, no patronymic,

No friends, no home or kin.

Quiet are the fateful days

Of loneliness in the coffin.

 

May he abide in peace, may he find rest!

Just as your soul now at liberty,

Soon, soon, into the blue sea will disappear

The white boat.

 

 

 

d

 

Literary Translation/Adaptation by U.R. Bowie

 

The Far Shore

 

Outside the window brand-new spring gleams on.

Inside your candle drips the wax of nevermore,

While, carpentered, a skiff, plank-board and long,

Prepares its journey toward the distant shore.

 

They combed you, dressed you up, bid fair adieu,

They placed a linen cloth on visage pallor—

Then went away and left in place of you

A double, pale of face and void of valor.

 

He has no name, no patronymic, naught,

No friends, no home, a dearth of cherished-nearest;

Quiet, ever quiet are his days devoid of ought,

Lonely in the deathly still, no hope of panegyrist.

 

“May he abide in peace, find sweet repose!”

Your anguished soul at last knows liberty;  

That off-white skiff soon sails for No One Knows,

Evanesces, fades into the sky’s blue sea.