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Henry Wadsworth   Longfellow
1807-1882
(Генри Водсворд Лонгфелло)

The day is done (fragment)
НОЧЬ

The day is done and the darkness
Falls from the wings of the Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness come o’er me
That my soul cannot resist:
A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.
Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartful lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.
Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, likethe Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

ОСЕНЬ
Дожди-герольды предвещают Осень

AUTUMN
Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by rain
With banners, by great gales incessant fann'd,
Brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand,
And stately oxen harness'd to thy wain;
Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne,
Upon thy bridge of gold; royal hand
Outstreched with benedictions o'er the land,
Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain,
Thy shield is red harvest moon, suspended
So long beneath the heaven's o'erhanging eaves;
Thy steps are by the farmer's prayer attended:
Like flames upon an altar shine the sheaves;
And, following thee, in thy ovation splendid,
Thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves!

МОИ КНИГИ
Как рыцарь прежних позабытых дней

Мельница Бога
Though the mills of God grind slowly,
        yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting,
        with exactness grinds He all.

Как любящая мать, когда наступит вечер

Nature

1     As a fond mother, when the day is o'er,
2         Leads by the hand her little child to bed,
3         Half willing, half reluctant to be led,
4         And leave his broken playthings on the floor,
5     Still gazing at them through the open door,
6         Nor wholly reassured and comforted
7         By promises of others in their stead,
8         Which, though more splendid, may not please him more;
9     So Nature deals with us, and takes away
10       Our playthings one by one, and by the hand
11       Leads us to rest so gently, that we go
12   Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay,
13       Being too full of sleep to understand
14       How far the unknown transcends the what we know.

Пол-жизни позади. Года скользят из рук

MEZZO CAMMIN

Half of my life is gone, and I have let
  The years slip from me and have not fulfilled
  The aspiration of my youth, to build
  Some tower of song with lofty parapet.
Not indolence, nor pleasure, nor the fret
  Of restless passions chat would not be stilled,
  But sorrow, and a care that almost killed,
  Kept me from what I may accomplish yet;
Though, half way up the hill, I see the Past
  Lying beneath me with its sounds and sights,--
  A city in the twilight dim and vast,
With smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights.--
  And hear above me on the autumnal blast
  The cataract of Death far thundering from the heights.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

© 2000 Elena and Yacov Feldman