I nachinayet ponemnogu
And so, in slow but growing fashion
Moya Tat'yana ponimat'
My Tanya starts to understand
Teper' yasneye — slava bogu —
More clearly now—thank God—her passion
Togo, po kom ona vzdykhat'
And him for whom, by fate's command,
Osuzhdena sud'boyu vlastnoy:
She'd been condemned to feel desire:
Chudak pechal'nyy i opasnyy,
That dangerous and sad pariah,
Sozdan'ye ada il' nebes,
That work of heaven or of hell,
Sey angel, sey nadmennyy bes,
That angel... and proud fiend as well.
Chto zh on? Uzheli podrazhan'ye,
What was he then? An imitation?
Nichtozhnyy prizrak, il' yeshche
An empty phantom or a joke,
Moskvich v Garol'dovom plashche,
A Muscovite in Harold's cloak,
Chuzhikh prichud istolkovan'ye,
Compendium of affectation,
Slov modnykh polnyy leksikon?..
A lexicon of words in vogue...
Uzh ne parodiya li on?
Mere parody and just a rogue?