Osip Mandel'shtam
Silentium
She has not yet been born,
She is both music and word,
Just as there is an unbreakable bond
Between all living things.
The breast of the sea breathes peacefully,
But, like a madman, the day dawned,
And the pale lilac foam
Forms a misty azure vessel.
And my lips find
The original muteness,
Like a crystal note,
That is pure from birth!
Remain as foam, Aphrodite,
And word, return to music,
And heart, be ashamed of heart,
Fused with the fundamentals of life!
