Page:Modern Russian Poetry.djvu/99

Rh

With my fancy I grasped at the vague shadows straying, At the vague shadows straying where the daylight had fled; I ascended a tower, and the stairway was swaying, And the stairway was swaying underneath my light tread.

And the higher I climbed, ever clearer were rounded, Ever clearer were rounded dreaming hilltops aglow; And from Heaven to Earth twilight voices resounded, Twilight voices resounded from above and below.

And the higher I rose, strange horizons defining, Strange horizons defining, did the summits appear; And my eyes as I looked were caressed by their shining, Were caressed by their shining, their farewell, sad and clear.

Now the night had appeared; Earth in darkness lay dreaming, Earth in darkness lay dreaming, like a slumbering star, While the smoldering sun, his dim embers still gleaming, His dim embers still gleaming, shone for me from afar.

I had learned to ensnare the vague shadows far straying, The vague shadows far straying, where the daylight had fled; Ever higher I rose, and the stairway was swaying, And the stairway was swaying underneath my light tread.