ALEXANDER PUSHKIN and OLGA SEDAKOVA IN TRANSLATION

ALEXANDER PUSHKIN

THE WAGON OF LIFE

However cumbersome the burden,
Light is the wagon on its way,
As olden Time, a dashing coachman,
Precludes the chances of delay.

Despising indolence and pleasure,
We eagerly embark at dawn;
With breakneck vigor for adventure
We’re yelling: giddy up, goddamn!

But courage dissipates by midday;
We’ve grown uneasy; we’re afraid
Of hillsides, and ravines, and jolts,
We’re yelling: take it easy, dolt!

Oblivious wagon rolls with ardor...
By dusk we don’t mind the ride:
We’re dozing off, awaiting harbor,
As Time is dashing: giddy up!

THE ANGEL

A gentle angel gleamed with sorrow
At gates of Eden as he watched
A fallen angel, sullen, foul,
Fly o’er grim Hades in the void.

Repugnant soul, defiant spirit,
Discerned the light of spirit chaste,
And sudden touch of tender feeling
Had shone upon the demon’s face.

He spoke, “Forgive me—I have seen you;
Your wistful glow is not in vain:
I’ve hated not all that’s in heaven,
Not all that’s worldly I’ve disdained.”

OLGA SEDAKOVA

THE WORD

One who loves shall be loved.
One who serves shall be served—
if not now, sometime afterward.

Better yet is the one who is grateful,
one who serves for joy, not for Rachel,
strolling over the hills green as emerald.

Thou art the Word, the royal garment,
made of thin, long-suffering patience,
brighter than the sun, above all heavens.

But our eyes won’t know
thy precious glow,
and the rustle of thy ample mantle
won’t ever fall on human ears,

only the heart within will utter:
“You are free and shall be free forever,
slaves no more, nor their keepers.”

CHILDHOOD

Reminiscing of my early childhood,
I’m sleeping in a sunlit cradle.

Was it real or was I dreaming?—
Someone saw me
and swiftly came out of the garden,
and stood there smiling.

Someone’s voice said, “The world is desert.
Human heart is a heart of stone.
What they love, they don’t even know.

Don’t you forget me, Olga,
and I won’t forget every last one.”

THE PLACE OF DWELLING

We shall live for ever and ever,
planted like trees by the river,
like the roots that stretch into the water,
rising—with the earth—toward heaven,
Elizabeth—toward Mary.

We shall live for ever and ever,
build ourselves two houses tall as clouds:
one of gold, the other of darkness,
both of them rumbling like thunder.

They’ll say we’ve sunk into the Lethe...
But we’ll leave them in awe by saying:

“Carried by the stream unseen and fleeting,
there drifts away the breath of being.
Up above flies the time enfeebled,
gliding over like the dove of Noah.”

Александр Сергеевич Пушкин

ТЕЛЕГА ЖИЗНИ

Хоть тяжело подчас в ней бремя,
Телега на ходу легка;
Ямщик лихой, седое время,
Везет, не слезет с облучка.

С утра садимся мы в телегу;
Мы рады голову сломать
И, презирая лень и негу,
Кричим: пошел! . . . .

Но в полдень нет уж той отваги;
Порастрясло нас; нам страшней
И косогоры и овраги;
Кричим: полегче, дуралей!

Катит по-прежнему телега;
Под вечер мы привыкли к ней
И, дремля, едем до ночлега —
А время гонит лошадей.
(1823)

АНГЕЛ

В дверях эдема ангел нежный
Главой поникшею сиял,
А демон мрачный и мятежный
Над адской бездною летал.

Дух отрицанья, дух сомненья
На духа чистого взирал
И жар невольный умиленья
Впервые смутно познавал.

“Прости, — он рек, — тебя я видел,
И ты недаром мне сиял:
Не всё я в небе ненавидел,
Не всё я в мире презирал.”
(1827)

Ольга Александровна Седакова

СЛОВО

И кто любит, того полюбят.
Кто служит, тому послужат —
не теперь, так когда-нибудь после.

Но лучше тому, кто благодарен,
кто пойдет, послужив, без Рахили
веселый, по холмам зеленым.

Ты же, слово, царская одежда,
долгого, короткого терпенья платье,
выше неба, веселее солнца.

Наши глаза не увидят
цвета твоего родного,
шума складок твоих широких
не услышат уши человека,

только сердце само себе скажет:
—Вы свободны, и будете свободны,
и перед рабами не в ответе.
(1980)

ДЕТСТВО

Помню я раннее детство
и сон в золотой постели.

Кажется или правда? —
кто-то меня увидел,
быстро вошел из сада
и стоит улыбаясь.

“Мир — говорит, — пустыня.
Сердце человека — камень.
Любят люди, чего не знают.

Ты не забудь меня, Ольга,
а я никого не забуду.”

(1980-1981)

ДОМ

Будем жить мы долго, так долго,
как живут у воды деревья,
как вода им корни умывает
и земля с ними к небу выходит,
Елизавета — к Марии.

Будем жить мы долго, долго.
Выстроим два высоких дома:
тот из золота, этот из мрака,
и оба шумят, как море.

Будут думать, что нас уже нет...
Тут-то мы им и скажем:

“По воде невидимой и быстрой
уплывает сердце человека.
Там летает ветхое время,
как голубь из Ноева века.”

(1980-1981)

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (Russian: Александр Сергеевич Пушкин ) 6 June [O.S. 26 May] 1799 – 10 February [O.S. 29 January] 1837) was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era. He is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet, as well as the founder of modern Russian literature.

Olga Alexandrovna Sedakova (Russian: Ольга Александровна Седакова; 26 December 1949 in Moscow) is a Russian poet and translator. She has been described as "one of the best confessional Christian poets writing in Russian today". Sedakova is also recognized as a philosopher and humanist. Sedakova was born in Moscow to the family of a military engineer. At an early age, she traveled with her father overseas, enabling her to gain a different view of the world. She graduated from Moscow State University (faculty of philology) in 1973. Subsequently, she went to graduate school. In 1985, she obtained a degree of Candidate of Sciences (philology). She befriended Venedikt Yerofeyev and kept the manuscript of Moscow-Petushki in her house. A deeply religious person, Sedakova started writing poetry in 1960. Her Christian themes made her Neoclassical works unpublishable in the Soviet Union until 1989. As of 2014, she has authored seven books of poetry. Her poems were translated into a number of languages including English, French, German, and Italian. It was through her mentor Sergey Averintsev that Sedakova became involved in the ecumenist movement. She is known to have exchanged poetry collections with John Paul II who presented the inaugural Vladimir Solovyov Prize to her (1998). She also criticised the Russian Orthodox Church for taking an intolerant stance on other forms of Christian faith. Sedakova is the recipient of several major literary prizes, including the Andrei Bely Prize (1980), Paris Prize for Russian Poets (1991), European Prize in Poetry (1995), Vladimir Solovyov Prize for Advancement of Culture (1998), and Solzhenitsyn Prize (2001).

Victoria Chernyak is a healthcare modeling analyst, theatre dramaturg and literary translator. She has translated and adapted plays by Alexander Pushkin, Evgeny Schwartz and Daniil Kharms. Her work appeared in On the Seawall and has been performed at poetry readings, Valdez Theatre Conference and theatre workshops. A new anthology, Conversation Piece, of selected Russian poetry in translation that spans from the early 1800s to late 1900s, has been accepted for publication in Somerville, Mass.