May Luminesce Your Name

[Ilya Shambat]

For long on bitter earth I had forgotten
Of honor, feats, accomplishments and fame
When on the table luminesced before me
Your lovely face adorned in simple frame.

But time had come, and you had left the house.
I threw the wedding ring into the night.
You gave away your fortune to another,
And your majestic features I forgot.

The days flew, with cursed rumbling circling...
The wine and passion tore my life apart...
And I remembered you before the morning,
And like my youth, I called you from my heart...

I called you, but you did not turn around,
I wept, but you had honored not my plight.
You sadly wrapped yourself in a blue coat
And home departed on a misty night.

I know not where, my tender, my beloved,
You found to be the home to your pride.
I'm sleeping soundly, dream of your blue coat,
In which you left me on the misty night...

Now not to dream of tenderness, of glory,
All that is past, the youth has come to end!
Your face adorned in simple frame before me
I took away from table with my hand.

By Alexander Blok
Translated from Russian by Ilya Shambat