When the floodwaters of the Great Flood rolled Back to their borders, twixt their shores to sink, Out of the stream’s receding foam crawled Love, quietly crawled out onto the brink And before its time, dissolved into the air And forty years times forty was the time there... And there are still such fey ones as would do Inhale this mix and breathe it deeply through, Neither reward nor punishment awaiting - They, thinking that they are merely breathing, Unknowingly catch onto the rhythm Of another breath, uneven, hesitating... To spread beds for lovers to the fields I go - Awake and dreaming, let them sing more! I breathe, and therefore I love, I know. I love, and I live, therefore. And there shall be many wanderings and quests For the land of Love is a great land! And from her knights, for more and more tests, Harsher and harsher things she will demand, Rid them of air, sleep and peaceful rest, And ask for partings they cannot understand. But you can’t turn them back from their mad way Already they are all prepared to pay - Risk their lives, even, any price that’s been - So as to keep and not allow to tear That magical invisible thread of theirs That has already been stretched between... And the wind drove the chosen drunk again, Knocked them down, and raised them up from death, For, if you have never loved, then You have never lived, nor drawn a breath! But, though you shout at many in love drowned, They cannot hear you, however you call. Gossip and empty chatter keep their count But blood is mixed in counting them all And we’ll respectfully stand candles round The beds of those who died for love ne’er seen at all. Their souls are given wandering mid flowers Their voices blending in one harmony And breathing on one breath for eternity And to meet - though on their lips be sighs On fragile bridges, boats and other ties Of narrow crossroads in this world’s infinity. To spread beds for lovers to the fields I go - Awake and dreaming, let them sing more! I breathe, and therefore I love, I know. I love, and I live, therefore.
© Tamara Vardomskaya. Translation, 2008
© Tamara Vardomskaya. Performance, 2011