Valery Bryusov

I am a sailor, looking for new isles,
A daring rover in the waters' richness.
I'm thirsty for new flowers and sites,
Unknown highlands and unknown speeches.

And women go to the passion's call,
Like faithful prayers go at the temples,
The coarse mantles of the souls fall,
They give me all -- their delight and sadness!

In love, each heart is to its bottom seen:
Its depth is clear, void of any sin,
And all in it is stable and alone.

Yes, I drink lives as a vampire -- blood!
But every soul -- a new world inside,
And lures with its mystery unknown.


Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, September, 2000