To the Muse

In your hidden memories

There are fatal tidings of doom…

A curse on sacred traditions,

A desecration of happiness;

And a power so alluring

That I am ready to repeat the rumour

That you have brought angels down from heaven,

Enticing them with your beauty…

And when you mock at faith,

That pale, greyish-purple halo

Which I once saw before

Suddenly begins to shine above you.

Are you evil or good? You are altogether from another world

They say strange things about you

For some you are the Muse and a miracle.

For me you are torment and hell.

I do not know why in the hour of dawn,

When no strength was left to me,

I did not perish, but caught sight of your face

And begged you to comfort me.

I wanted us to be enemies;

Why then did you make me a present

Of a flowery meadow and of the starry firmament —

The whole curse of your beauty?

Your fearful caresses were more treacherous

Than the northern night,

More intoxicating than the golden champagne of Aï,

Briefer than a gypsy woman's love…

And there was a fatal pleasure

In trampling on cherished and holy things;

And this passion, bitter as wormwood,

Was a frenzied delight for the heart!

Translation from The Heritage of Russian Verse. Ed. Dmitrii Obolensky. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1965,