She was sitting on the floor - Она сидела на полу...

She was sitting on the floor

sorting letters which were old,

holding them before she threw them out

like ash gone cold.

Она сидела на полу

И груду писем разбирала –

И, как остывшую золу,

Брала их в руки и бросала –

Her look was strange

while she held those pages she knew so well

as if she were a soul which peered down

at its abandoned shell.

Брала знакомые листы

И чудно так на них глядела –

Как души смотрят с высоты

На ими брошенное тело...

So many irreversible events,

such life fulfilled and filled

with minutes of love and joy across the years!

How many grief-packed minutes killed!

О, сколько жизни было тут,

Невозвратимо-пережитой!

О, сколько горестных минут,

Любви и радости убитой!..

Silent, I stood to one side

and my knees were ready to bend

as a fearful sadness crept into my heart,

as if at the ghost of a dear, old friend!

Стоял я молча в стороне

И пасть готов был на колени, –

И страшно-грустно стало мне,

Как от присущей милой тени