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“The Urchin” by Nikolai Gumilev 🇷🇺 (15 Apr 1886 – 26 Aug 1921)
Translated from the Russian by Burton Raffel & Alla Burago
I’ll walk along the tracks,
thinking, following
the thread of the running rails
across the yellow sky, the scarlet sky.
​
I’ll go to the gloomy
station, shivering—
if the watchmen don’t shout
and chase me off.
​
And later, determined to remember,
I’ll think—again, again—
of the beautiful lady, and how she looked up,
quickly, as she got into the train.
​
Proud, distant:
Why should she care if I love her?
But when will I ever see
another lady with eyes so blue!
​
I’ll tell my friend,
I’ll tease him, a little,
when evening spreads smoke
across the meadow.
​
And with an ugly smile
he’ll say, “You see?
You read all kinds of junk
and you start to talk like that.”