Zinaida Gippius

It’s awful not to live but only sleep…
To see all's being ever multiplied,
To have in past so wildly many sins,
That it’s a shame to look up at the sky.

When can I pray for mercy for my sins?  
I’m on the last of circles’ strong incline.   
But most dread and shameful is the thing,
That no one loves now any one.


Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, November, 2000