Aleksandr Pushkin

The saddened crescent, in the morning skies,
Meets the young dawn full of the utter gladness,
One is in flames, another cold like ice.
The dawn shines like a bride, the young and blameless,
By her a crescent in the deathly paleness –
Dear Elvina, thus I’ve met you once.


Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, June 1, 2003