Aleksandr Pushkin

By gates of Eden, Angel, gentle,
Shone with his softly drooped head,
And Demon, gloomy and resentful
Over the hellish crevasse flapped.

The spirit of qualm and negation
Looked at another one – of good,
And fire of the forced elation
First time he vaguely understood.

“I’ve seen you,” he enunciated, -  
“And not in vain you’ve sent me light:
Not all in heaven I have hated,
Not all in world I have despised.”


Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, June, 2001