I'll say this in a whisper, in draft,
because it's early yet:
we have to pay
with experience and sweat
to learn the sky's free play.
And under purgatory's temporal sky
we easily forget:
the dome of heaven
is a home
to praise forever, wherever.
by Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам (Osip Emilyevich Mandelshtam.
His surname is commonly latinised as Mandelstam)
(1937)
translated by Robert Chandler
Tag: praise
Придворный соловей (Our Court nightingale) by Varlam Shalamov
Our court nightingale,
beak open wide,
can let out the loudest
trills in the world.
The creature is stunning
by what pours from his throat –
but it was he who spurred
Derzhavin to write
that praise and flattery
are by no means the same:
a slave can flatter
but he can’t do praise.
by Варлам Тихонович Шаламов (Varlam Tikhonovich Shalamov)
(1955?)
translated by Robert Chandler
Fun facts: The Dershavin mentioned in th epoem is Gavriil (Gavrila) Romanovich Derzhavin (Гавриил (Гаврила) Романович Державин, 14 July 1743 – 20 July 1816) who was one of the most highly esteemed Russian poets before Alexander Pushkin, as well as a statesman. Although his works are traditionally considered literary classicism, his best verse is rich with antitheses and conflicting sounds in a way reminiscent of John Donne and other metaphysical poets.
Original Russian cyrillic version:
Придворный соловей
Раскроет клюв пошире,
Бросая трель с ветвей,
Крикливейшую в мире.
Не помнит божья тварь
Себя от изумленья,
Долбит, как пономарь,
Хваленья и моленья.
Свистит что было сил,
По всей гремя державе,
О нем и говорил
Язвительный Державин,
Что раб и похвалить
Кого-либо не может.
Он может только льстить,
Что не одно и то же.
A recital of the Russian version set to music:
Prayer before Sleep 28 March 1931 at Seven O’Clock in the Evening by Daniil Kharms
‘Lord, in broad daylight
apathy overcame me.
Allow me to lie down and fall asleep Lord,
and while I sleep fill me Lord
with your strength.
There is much I want to know,
but neither books nor people
will tell me this.
May You alone Lord enlighten me
by means of my verses.
Wake me strong for the battle with meaning,
swift in the arrangement of words
and zealous to praise the name of God
for ever and ever.
by Даниил Иванович Хармс (Daniil Ivanovich Kharms)
a.k.a. Даниил Иванович Ювачёв (Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachov)
(date unknown)
translated by Robert Chandler
Rambling At The Bridge Head 