Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Happy Birthday Yevgeny Yevtushenko!








No, I'll not take the half

No, I'll not take the half of anything!
Give me the whole sky! The far-flung earth!
Seas and rivers and mountain avalanches-
All these are mine! I'll accept no less!

No, life, you cannot woo me with a part.

Let it be all or nothing! I can shoulder that!
I don't want happiness by halves,
Nor is half of sorrow what I want.

Yet there's a pillow I would share,

Where gently pressed against a cheek,
Like a helpless star, a falling star,
A ring glimmers on a finger of your hand.



1963
Translated by George Reavey

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