Anna Akhmatova

I absolutely stopped the smiling,
A white frost tries my lips to froze,
One hope’s gone from hopes’ filing,
One song will come to songs, morose.
And this song, seeing none or hearing,
I’ll give to mocking and defiance 
Because it is beyond all bearing –
The pain of loving soul’s silence.


Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, September, 2002