Eugene Onegin (Russian Literature Classic). Alexander Pushkin
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Название: Eugene Onegin (Russian Literature Classic)

Автор: Alexander Pushkin

Издательство: Bookwire

Жанр: Языкознание

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isbn: 4057664559456

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      Pardon I ask for such a sin —

      With words of foreign origin

      Too much I’m given to intersperse,

      Though to the Academy I come

       13 Refers to Dictionary of the Academy, compiled during the reign of Catherine II under the supervision of Lomonossoff.

      XXIV

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      But such is not my project now,

      So let us to the ball-room haste,

      Whither at headlong speed doth go

      Eugene in hackney carriage placed.

      Past darkened windows and long streets

      Of slumbering citizens he fleets,

      Till carriage lamps, a double row,

      Cast a gay lustre on the snow,

      Which shines with iridescent hues.

      He nears a spacious mansion’s gate,

      By many a lamp illuminate,

      And through the lofty windows views

      Profiles of lovely dames he knows

      And also fashionable beaux.

      XXV

       Table of Contents

      Our hero stops and doth alight,

      Flies past the porter to the stair,

      But, ere he mounts the marble flight,

      With hurried hand smooths down his hair.

      He enters: in the hall a crowd,

      No more the music thunders loud,

      Some a mazurka occupies,

      Crushing and a confusing noise;

      Spurs of the Cavalier Guard clash,

      The feet of graceful ladies fly,

      And following them ye might espy

      Full many a glance like lightning flash,

      And by the fiddle’s rushing sound

      The voice of jealousy is drowned.

      XXVI

       Table of Contents

      In my young days of wild delight

      On balls I madly used to dote,

      Fond declarations they invite

      Or the delivery of a note.

      So hearken, every worthy spouse,

      I would your vigilance arouse,

      Attentive be unto my rhymes

      And due precautions take betimes.

      Ye mothers also, caution use,

      Upon your daughters keep an eye,

      Employ your glasses constantly,

      For otherwise — God only knows!

      I lift a warning voice because

      I long have ceased to offend the laws.

      XXVII

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      Alas! life’s hours which swiftly fly

      I’ve wasted in amusements vain,

      But were it not immoral I

      Should dearly like a dance again.

      I love its furious delight,

      The crowd and merriment and light,

      The ladies, their fantastic dress,

      Also their feet — yet ne’ertheless

      Scarcely in Russia can ye find

      Three pairs of handsome female feet;

      Ah! I still struggle to forget

      A pair; though desolate my mind,

      Their memory lingers still and seems

      To agitate me in my dreams.

      XXVIII

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      When, where, and in what desert land,

      Madman, wilt thou from memory raze

      Those feet? Alas! on what far strand

      Do ye of spring the blossoms graze?

      Lapped in your Eastern luxury,

      No trace ye left in passing by

      Upon the dreary northern snows,

      But better loved the soft repose

      Of splendid carpets richly wrought.

      I once forgot for your sweet cause

      The thirst for fame and man’s applause,

      My country and an exile’s lot;

      My joy in youth was fleeting e’en

      As your light footprints on the green.

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