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“Bethlehem” by Marina Tsvetaeva 🇷🇺 (8 Oct 1892 – 31 Aug 1941)
Translated from the Russian by Ilya Shambat
1.
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Not with silver I came,
Not with amber I came,
Not as a king I came,
As a shepherd I came.
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Here’s air of hills of mine,
Here’s of two eyes of mine
Sharp gaze—and of fires
Red glare and of dawns of mine.
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Where’s wax—that is the fur?
Through hole I won’t turn!
Poorer than all—
But ahead of all!
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Behind a camel a camel
See: on that round hill,
See: walking are the kings,
See: they are bearing bins.
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O—after—far!
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2.
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Three kings,
Three bins
With precious gifts.
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The first bin—
All the earth
With indigo seas.
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Second bin:
Noah within
With an ark with beasts.
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And within?
That third bin?
What is there, my king?
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Gives the king,
“Holy’s my light”
Don’t know what it means
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Ahead—king,
Mom—behind,
And the infant weeps.