ИСТОЧНИК

His name will be John.
Where does it come from,
this voice – from the silence
in the hymning desert?
The father’s blood
will dry up
parching
will not turn cold
between the temple and the altar.
Escorting Angel
takes the babe
by his hand
Frost on the burning sand
keeping the night warm

‘His name will be John’.
Eat your honey
After you’ve broken the thorn.
Eat your barberries
if your mouth is parched.
Wait! Wait until you hear
the Voice.
Your subtle figure in your raiment of camel's hair
is hugged by a leathern girdle
and your life
is unapproachable
to generations of vipers.

You will stay silent
like a river
for thirty years
and
nine scores of days
till
the Nazarene
will walk
at liberty.

Till that day, –
O the Friend of the Bridegroom! –
Walk along the dry riverbeds.
The Sun of Righteousness
hasn’t risen yet
the moon hasn’t gone dim yet…
No thunderstorm, yet no remembrance of silence.
Drink your cup, oh drink…

6-7.7.09 Moscow

(translated by Olga and Robert Jarman)

From “East Cocker”

What is the late November doing
With the disturbance of the spring
And creatures of the summer heat,
And snowdrops writhing under feet
And hollyhocks that aim too high
Red into grey and tumble down
Late roses filled with early snow?
Thunder rolled by the rolling stars
Simulates triumphal cars
Deployed in constellated wars
Scorpion fights against the Sun
Until the Sun and Moon go down
Comets weep and Leonids fly
Hunt the heavens and the plains
Whirled in a vortex that shall bring
The world to that destructive fire
Which burns before the ice-cap reigns.

From “Little Gidding”

Ash on and old man's sleeve
Is all the ash the burnt roses leave.
Dust in the air suspended
Marks the place where a story ended.
Dust inbreathed was a house—
The walls, the wainscot and the mouse,
The death of hope and despair,
This is the death of air.

There are flood and drouth
Over the eyes and in the mouth,
Dead water and dead sand
Contending for the upper hand.
The parched eviscerate soil
Gapes at the vanity of toil,
Laughs without mirth.
This is the death of earth.

Water and fire succeed
The town, the pasture and the weed.
Water and fire deride
The sacrifice that we denied.
Water and fire shall rot
The marred foundations we forgot,
Of sanctuary and choir.
This is the death of water and fire.

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead mean naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan't crack;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.

ЧТО СОГЛАСИЛАСЬ ДЕЛАТЬ ЛИСА

1
Трава, детёныши дикобраза, ликом
Похожие на черепах, следы
на берегу, в мышином ухе волос.

2
Всё это есть движение вовнутрь,
вращение Медведицы по кругу,
чей хвост пушистый гладит океан.

3
А мы - больные пилигримы - гоним
скот ангельского стада через ночь,
передвигая ноги еле-еле.

4
В ноябрьской почве стынут семена,
как в чреве материнском. Дева,
спускаясь, затерялась между звезд.

5
А раковины разрастаются, и дым
струится через воду, и ракетой
со дна взмывает круглая луна.

6
Дельфинов оседлали иудеи,
лиса нырнула в океан, и это
насторожило наше существо.


(Перевод Михаила Дудина)

PS А вот оригинал я затерял.

 WHATCHER OF THE SKIES

Whatcher of the skies whatcher of all
He is a world alone no world is his own.
He whom his life can no longer surprise,
Rising his eyes beholds a planet unknown.

Creatures shaped this planet's soil,
Now their reign has come to end,
His life again destroyed life,
do they play elsewhere, or do they know
more than their childhood games?
Maybe the lizard shedded it,s tail,
This is the end of man's union with Earth.

Judge not this race by empty remains
Do you judge God by his creatures when they are dead.
For now the lizard's shedded it's tail
This is the end of man's union with Earth.

From life alone to life as one,
Think not now your journey's done
For though your ship be sturdy,
No mercy has the sae,
Will you survive on the ocean of being;
Come ancient children hear what I say.
This is my parting council for you on your way.

Sadly now your thoughts turn to the stars
Where we have gone you know you never can go.
Whatcher of the skies whatcher of all
This is your fate alone, this fate is your own.