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M. E. Rothwell's avatar

Loved this. I for one would enjoy more poetry translations. Also, bold call to name Hero of Our Time as the best Russian novel! Do you have a particular translation you’d recommend?

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Jacobe's avatar

"Sleep" is usually translated as "The Dream" in English.

In noon's heat, in a dale of Dagestan

With lead inside my breast, stirless I lay;

The deep wound still smoked on; my blood

Kept trickling drop by drop away.

On the dale's sand alone I lay. The cliffs

Crowded around in ledges steep,

And the sun scorched their tawny tops

And scorched me — but I slept death's sleep.

And in a dream I saw an evening feast

That in my native land with bright lights shone;

Among young women crowned with flowers,

A merry talk concerning me went on.

But in the merry talk not joining,

One of them sat there lost in thought,

And in a melancholy dream

Her young soul was immersed — God knows by what.

And of a dale in Dagestan she dreamt;

In that dale lay the corpse of one she knew;

Within his breast a smoking wound showed black,

And blood ran in a stream that colder grew.

One of my favourite poems. No idea Lermontov was a painter as well, thanks for putting together this piece.

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