I take no joy in pleasures preconceived And nature is a graying dot today And only in light drunkenness I may From the unwealthy life color receive. The wind is playing with a cloud immersed An anchor falls to bottom of the sea And breathless like a canvas under me Soul overhangs abysses of the cursed. But I adore casino on the sea The foggy window swinging avidly On rippling cloth a ray of sun shines through Surrounded by water green and blue When like a rose a glass of wine is full I see the flapping wings of a seagull! By Osip Mandelshtam Translated from Russian by Ilya Shambat