Александр Блок, 1912

[levaniel]

Ночь, улица, фонарь, аптека.

Бессмысленный и тусклый свет.

Живи ещё хоть четверть века-

Всё будет так. Исхода нет.

Умрешь-начнёшь опять сначала,

И повторится всё, как встарь:

Ночь, ледяная рябь канала,

Аптека, улица, фонарь.

Close translation (but it rhymes and has meter in the Russian)

Night, street, streetlamp, drugstore.

A meaningless and

Comments

[eftsoons]

I like that. It reminds me of a story I read last night about Jack the Ripper (by Harlan Ellison. It's called "The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World"). Aleksandr Blok is the poet?

[eftsoons]

Oh, if you're going to look for the story it's in the anthology Dangerous Visions. I don't know if it ever got reprinted elsewhere. You should read the prequel story first (by Robert Bloch called A Toy for Juliette). If you don't read the prequel it's far harder to understand. I love me some sci-fi short stories. :)

[levaniel]

Yep, Blok's the poet. And thanks for the recommendation!

Russian Complex

[anonymous]

I saw this and I was like wow it looks like one of the posted letters around where I live. I love how Russian looks, it's so beautiful and so graceful. Thanks O_o Joker71