Russian Poem (Lermontov, trans. Rosalie Stafford)


Literal translation (Russian:English) of Lermontov's 1840 poem:

	The mountaintops are sleeping in the darkness of the night; the quiet valleys are full of fresh dew;
	there’s no dust on the road, [i.e., no one is out walking] the leaves are not trembling … wait a bit, you also will rest.

Lermontov's poem has rhyme scheme of ABAB CACA; translation keeps that ABAB CACA rhyme scheme. Translation loses the dust imagery and its evocative "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" connotation to English speakers, however that connotation is not necessary present in the original Russian.

	In the chill darkness,
		the grey mountaintops sleep.
	In the green fastness,
		dews drench the deep
			and the leaves hanging still from the dale to the crest…
	When warm becomes chill,
		you also will rest.
				Michael Lermontov, circa 1839 Translator, Rosalie Stafford, 2009