from Stone 24, Osip Mandelstam

Leaves scarcely breathing

in the black breeze;

the flickering swallow

draws circles in the dusk.

In my loving

dying heart

a twilight is coming,

a last ray, gently reproaching.

And over the evening forest

the bronze moon climbs to its place.

Why has the music stopped?

Why is there such silence?

This is what i most want, Osip Mandelstam

This is what I most want

un-pursued, alone

to reach beyond the light

that I am furthest from.

And for you to shine there-

no other happiness-

and learn, from starlight,

what its fire might suggest.

A star burns as a star,

light becomes light,

because our murmuring

strengthens us, and warms the night.

And I want to say to you

my little one, whispering,

I can only lift you towards the light

by means of this babbling.

There is no need for words, Osip Mandelstam

There is no need for words:

nothing must be heard.

How sad, and fine,

an animal’s dark mind.

Nothing it must make heard:

it has no use for words,

a young dolphin, plunging, steep,

along the world’s grey deep.