You are here: Home » Russian-Language Poets » Bella Akhmadulina » Incantation
Bella Akhmadulina
Incantation
Don’t mourn for me – I shall survive –
The kind convict, the somewhat happy pauper,
The frozen southerner inside the Pole Circle,
The angry northerner in the consumption’s locker
On the mosquitoes South – I shall survive.
Don’t mourn for me – I shall survive –
The little lame-one, begging in the parvis,
The drunken-one, that’s left amidst the tables,
And this one, daubing just the image Marie’s,
That God’s bad painter – I shall, yet, survive.
Don’t mourn for me – I shall survive –
The girl, in rules of grammar-books unblemished,
Which, in the future undefined and selfish,
Like a dull fool, under my fringe, the reddish,
Will know my verse. For sure, I will survive.
Don’t mourn for me – I shall survive –
The one who’s kinder than the fresh wounds' nursing
Under the crazy military bursting,
Under the star of mine, that’s ever glossing…
In any way … I’ll really survive.
Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, February 1, 2004
Read Next
See something wrong on this page? Let us know.
x
By using our website, you agree to our cookie policy.