Translation of Poem by Anna Akhmatova, Анна Ахматова, "Стал мне реже сниться, слава Богу," THANK GOD, MY DREAMWORLD'S LEANER, SPARSER

 

Анна Ахматова
(1889-1966)

Стал мне реже сниться, слава Богу,
Больше не мерещится везде.
Лег туман на белую дорогу,
Тени побежали по воде.

И весь день не замолкали звоны
Над простором вспаханной земли,
Здесь всего сильнее от Ионы
Колокольни лаврские вдали.

Подстригаю на кустах сирени
Ветки те, что нынче отцвели,
По валам старинных укреплений
Два монаха медленно прошли.

Мир родной, понятный и телесный
Для меня, незрячей, оживи.
Исцелил мне душу царь небесный
Ледяным покоем нелюбви.

1912. Kiev

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Literal Translation by Judith Hemschmeyer
(with amendations in brackets by URB)

 

I dream of him less often now, thank God,
He doesn't appear everywhere anymore. [I don’t fancy that I see him everywhere anymore]
Fog lies on the white road,
Shadows start to run along the water.

And the ringing [pealing] goes on all day.
Over the endless expanse of ploughed fields,
Ever louder sound the bells
From Jonah’s Monastery far away.

[mistranslation of last two lines here:
On account of the massive Iona (Jonah) bell here
(as if resounding off of it?),
The belltowers from the Lavra Monastery far away ring out still louder.]
 

I am clipping today’s wilted branches
From the lilac bushes;
On the ramparts of the ancient fortress,
Two monks stroll. [have strolled past]

Revive for me, who cannot see,
The familiar [dear], comprehensible, corporeal world.
The heavenly king has already healed my soul
With the peace of unlove, icy cold.

 

 

d

                                       Literary Translation/Adaptation by U.R. Bowie
 
Thank God my dreamworld’s leaner, sparser now,
Imaginings of him flow not so amply.
On road the fog and whiteness blend somehow,
While shadows run and play on waters damply.
 
And all day long the bells flaunt resonations
Above the plowed-up land, the vast greenway;
Attempting to outshine our massive Jonah,
The Lavra’s belltowers ring out far away.
 
In amidst the lilacs pruning upstarts,
I trim the branches where the blooms are shaded;
Along the walls past buttresses and ramparts
Slowly walk two monks in habits faded.
 
O precious world, a realm coherent, whole, 
For me, alone, unseeing, come alive!
The Lord Above has healed my ailing soul,
On doses of un-love ice-cold I thrive. 

 

d

Translator’s Note

Материал из Викитеки — свободной библиотеки

Second Stanza: Иона — Киевский Свято-Троицкий мужской монастырь на правом берегу Днепра, в нескольких километрах от Киево-Печерской лавры. Основан киевским подвижником, старцем Ионой (ум. в 1902 г.). В 1896 г. Иона купил для колокольни монастыря огромный колокол весом в 1150 пудов.

This poem is set in Kiev near the Holy Trinity Men’s Monastery on the right bank of the Dnieper River, several kilometers away from the renowned Kiev Cave Monastery—which is the “Lavra” mentioned in the poem (Kievo-Pecherskaja Lavra). The Holy Trinity Monastery was founded by the Kiev anchorite-zealot Father Jonah (who died in 1902). In 1896 Jonah bought for the belltower of his monastery an enormous bell that weighed some 1150 poods (20.7 tons). The word “Iona” (Jonah) in the second stanza alludes, apparently, to the massive so-called Iona Bell.

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