Original Russian



MY ANXIETY BEING SO STRONG





My anxiety being so strong, that I'm unable to work,

I am rhyming instead.  And, as from now, the work is not aimless:

For, perhaps, I'll remember that doubts have assailed me before,

If I should grow exhausted again and afraid of the void…

But my alarm has arisen through involvement in human affairs:

I am losing my passion for Science though that's my main topic…

I am writing some verse, but it's bad, as you see;

And there's nothing I love.  I keep smoking, and that's merely waste!

...And yet only a short time ago I felt strongly the urge,

And I thought:  I shall master all knowledge, finding books and strength…

But I'm weary, and nothing affords any sense of relief:

Apathetically, like a convict, I still try to work…

The blue stars are my only love...And if freedom were mine,

I would fly to the stars...But can Nature assist me at all

To discover in abstract science the pulsation of Nature?



                                                           Yesenin-Volpin , A Leaf of Spring   

                                                                          April 8, 1946