back to Vladimir Nabokov

“I Like That Mountain” by Vladimir Nabokov 🇷🇺🇺🇸 (22 Apr 1899 – 2 Jul 1977)
Translated from the Russian by the author
I like that mountain in its black pelisse
of fir forests—because
in the gloom of a strange mountain country
I am closer to home.
​
How should I not know those dense needles,
and how should I not lose my mind
at the mere sight of that peatbog berry
showing blue along my way?
​
The higher the dark and damp
trails twist upward, the clearer
grow the tokens, treasured since childhood,
of my northern plain.
​
Shall we not climb thus
the slopes of paradise, at the hour of death,
meeting all the loved things
that in life elevated us?