Into the circling choral dance of shadows that trampled the soft meadow (Mandelstam)

Into the circling choral dance of shadows that trampled the soft meadow… ⧼written by⧽ Osip Mandelstam

From Tristia. Translated from Russian by Rosamund Bartlett and Gerard McBurney. In Russian: «Я в хоровод теней, топтавших нежный луг…»

* * * Into the circling choral dance of shadows that trampled the soft meadow, I merged with my melodious name, But everything melted away and only a faint sound Has remained in my misty memory. At first I thought my name seraphic And I shunned by slight body; Some days passed and I fused with it And dissolved into the sweet shadow. And now once more the apple tree sheds its wild fruit And a mysterious image gleams at me, Blasphemes and curses itself And swallows coals of jealousy. But happiness rolls along like a golden hoop Fulfilling another's will And we chase after the light spring Cleaving the air with our palms. And things are so arranged that we do not leave The enchanted circle. The tensile hills of the maiden earth Lie tightly swathed. 1920