Lovely youth

(Camp on the Euphrates)

Lovely youth, when war drums rattle
Be not ravished: seal your ears;
Do not leap into the battle
With the crowd of mountaineers.
Well I know that death will shun you.
And that where the sabers fly
Azrael will look upon you,
Note your beauty, and pass by.
But the war will be unsparing:
Surely you will come to harm —
Lose your timid grace of bearing,
Lose your shy and languid charm.

Translated by Babette Deutsch

A.S. Pushkin. Lovely youth (“Lovely youth, when war drums rattle...”). Translated by Babette Deutsch // Alexander Pushkin. Collected Works: Parallel Russian Text and English Translation.
© Электронная публикация — РВБ, 2022—2024. Версия 2.1 от 30 ноября 2023 г.