Konstantin Balmont

I once was a son of the Earth,
For me marigolds grew in mirth,
I was very like to all men,
And wore their illusions’ hard chain.

But sadness of earth was then lost
With ears of the fields and green moss – 
I went from the parental world
The truth and the falsehood beyond.

Reproaches won’t touch my soul,
I fathomed the instant hint all,
I heard the mysterious calls,
The endlessness of the mute voice.

I saw that there’s no any times,
That constant are patterns of stars,
That deathlessness leads to a death,
That after that death – deathlessness.


Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, October, 2002