Nikolay Gumilev

He did not lie – the ghost, so sad and thoughtful,  
That from a star took his name by a chance,
When he had said, “Don’t fear the Lord”, to us,
“Just try the fruit and be like Him immortal”.

All routs for youths were opened in glow, 
And all forbidden works – for older ones,
And amber fruits  -- for gaily girls, at once,
And the rhinoceros forever white as snow.     

But why we lean, bereft of any strength,
And feel that someone has forgot all us at length,
And grasp the dread of the old lure, if only

By an easy hand of someone, by a chance,
Two little sticks (flag’s poles, leaves of grass)
Will be united in the cross infirmly?     



Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, May, 2000
Edited by Dmitry Karshtedt, December, 2000