Mar

29

Не пой, красавица, при мне

Filed Under Russia | 1 Comment  | by

Anything I have said in the past about the beauty of this city is no longer valid.  Today I saw just how beautiful this place truly is, with the first tru glimpse of spring.  I walked the streets with no hat, my jacket left open, and the sun shining upon my face as I strolled.  The snow that I had grown so accustomed to melted away, and I was able to get my glimpse of the city without this ever present footprint of nature.  I stood on a bridge over the Fontanka near my apartment and watched for the first time as the river flowed, rather than standing still in a sheet of white snow and ice.

And this morning, as all this beauty surrounded me, her opposite showed her hideous head.  There is not much I can say that can do justice to the loss caused by the great injustice committed in this country today.  Today, as the people of Moscow carried about on this, otherwise perfect, day, two bombs were ignited in two stations of the Moscow metro system.  Roughly forty people lost their lives this morning as I stood on that bridge.  Countless others were injured.  And injury from a bomb I can only imagine is just as horrific.  Molten shrapnel and flame flying through such a confined space is one of the closest glimpses of hell I think any human can witness.

I don’t know what else I can say.  It was on my mind as I rode the subway to and from the school today.  Even the beautiful sights around me could not push the thoughts from my mind.  The senseless violence seems to know no borders.  Everywhere there is someone attempting to rectify some past injustice by perpetuating a new one.

Here is a work of Russia’s greatest poet, and a translation.  I think it is appropriate.  It is beautiful, as the day was, yet holds a serious message of loss and yearning.

Не пой, красавица, при мне

Ты песен Грузии печальной:
Напоминают мне оне
Другую жизнь и берег дальный.

Увы! напоминают мне
Твои жестокие напевы
И степь, и ночь — и при луне
Черты далекой, бедной девы.

Я призрак милый, роковой,
Тебя увидев, забываю;
Но ты поешь — и предо мной
Его я вновь воображаю.

Не пой, красавица, при мне
Ты песен Грузии печальной:
Напоминают мне оне
Другую жизнь и берег дальный.

———————————————-

Oh, Beauty, merciful be to me –
Songs of doleful Georgia sing not:
The sounds of such a sorrowful glee
Remind my life and the love I’ve got.

Alas! Heart-hurting songs of yours
Bring visions of steppe and tender night,
Your hurting songs revive my moans
For the poor girl under the moon light.

This dear image, fateful, bright,
I can’t help losing on seeing you,
But it appears in my mind
When hums of yours I’m listening to.

Oh, Beauty, merciful be to me –
Songs of doleful Georgia sing not:
The sounds of such a sorrowful glee
Remind my life and the love I’ve got.

Comments

One Response to “Не пой, красавица, при мне”

  1. Mary Costello on April 5th, 2010 6:12 pm

    Appreciated the reflection and the thoughts. We are thinking of you.

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