The Demon / Демон. Книга для чтения на английском языке

Oh, father, father, do not chide,

You see yourself – a poison slow

Envenoms all my waking thought

The evil one won't let me go

By overwhelming dreams distraught

I fade and perish utterly!

Have pity, let your foolish girl

Seek refuge in a monastery

There, if I can but take the veil

The saviour will take care of me

And I shall tell Him all my woe.

The world, I know it all too well,

Holds nothing for me: let a cell

In twilit shadow shelter me…

As in a grave – precociously…»

II

And so Tamara's family

To a far convent brought their child,

And there in all humility

In hair-shirt rough the maiden mild

Enrobed her youthful breast.

Yet in this harsh, monastic garb

Her troubled heart found no more rest

From dreams forbidden and debarred

Than clad in velvet or brocade.

Before the altar at the hour,

Of shining candles, solemn prayer,

Through the sweet chanting of the choir

Familiar speech would reach her ear

And there, beneath the cupola,

A well-known figure would appear

To glide by as the incense rose…

Soundless, he leaves no trace, but goes

Gleaming before her like a star

Calling and beckoning afar

But whither? Ah, that no one knows.

III

The holy convent was secluded

In a cool glen between two hills

By poplars and acacias ringed…

And, when the night sank weary-winged

To rest in the ravine, the grills

Of the young sister's cell would gleam

Out through their foliage fitfully.

Without, beneath the almond tree

In whose thin shade dark crosses brooded

Like silent watchers on the graves,

The merry birds made sweet conclaves

Of melody.

Leapt down from rock to rock, and sang,

Then merged beneath the overhang

To foam away in rapid rushes

Beneath the frosty-flowering bushes…

IV

Way to the north there was a view,

A glimpse of mountains.