More tender than tender

* * *

More tender than tender Is your face, Whiter than white Is your hand, From the whole world You are distant, And everything in you Is from the inevitable.

From the inevitable Is your sorrow, And the fingers of your hand Which stay warm, And the quiet sound Of your cheerful Speeches, And the distant look Of your eyes.

1909

Нежнее нежного (Мандельштам)