Marina Tsvetaeva

I like that you are crazy not with me,
I like that I’m not with you crazy, either,
That ne’er the heavy planet’s globe will be
Drifting away under our feet, quite easy.
I like that one might funny be and brave,
And free-behaved – and not to play words, rather,
And not to blush with choking a wave,
At easy touching just a sleeve another’s.

I thank you with my hand and all my heart
For loving me (that you don’t even know!),
For the sweet peace, I own in the night,
For the scarce meeting in the eve’s fast flow,
For our not-walking under the moonlight,
For our not-standing under the sun’s glow –
That not with me – alas – you lose your mind,
That not with you – alas – I lose my own.


Translated by Yevgeny Bonver, October 14, 2005