Konstantin Balmont

I look at people with a kind of caution,
I’m used to beings with a different face.
The winds – my kinsmen, and all in ocean,
All that’s unusual for thoughts on Earth.

I move with shadows, behind me – shadows,
I hear the legend of deeps of sea,
A king of kingdom of visions, gravest,
I am alone and always free.

I hear tempests and peals of thunder,
The flames of lightning rise up afar,
I see an island – it’s not a wonder:
It is my country, here I’m a tsar.

In my cold soul, dreams do not sound,
The flight of ages is my heart’s rhythm,
Waves run before me, waves run around,
I see my endless, my constant dream.


Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, August, 2001