Poem : 아무것도 말할 필요가 없고

Osip Mandelstam (Jan 15, 1891 - Dec 27, 1938), was a Russian poet and essayist who lived in Russia during and after its revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union.


아무것도 말할 필요가 없고

아무것도 말할 필요가 없고,
아무것도 배울 필요가 없으니,

야수처럼 어두운 영혼
참으로 슬프나 아름답다.

아무것도 배우고 싶지 않기에
아예 말할 줄도 모른다.

어린 돌고래처럼
깊은 쟂빛 바다의 세상을 헤엄쳐 나간다.

This

This is what I most want
unpursued, alone
to reach beyond the light
that I am furthest from.

And for you to shine there-
no other happiness-
and learn, from starlight,
what its fire might suggest.

A star burns as a star,
light becomes light,
because our murmuring
strengthens us, and warms the night.

And I want to say to you
my little one, whispering,
I can only lift you towards the light
by means of this babbling.



I want to serve you.

1
I want to serve you
On an equal footing with others;
From jealousy, to tell your fortune
With dry lips. The word does not slake
My parched mouth,
And without you, the dense air
Is empty for me again.

2
I am not jealous anymore,
But I want you,
Alone I will take myself,
Like a sacrifice, to the hangman.
I will call you
Neither joy, nor love;
Some wild and strange blood
Was switched with mine.

3
One more moment,
And I will say to you:
It is not joy, but torment
I find in you.
And, like a crime,
I am drawn to you by
Your tender cherry mouth
Bitten in confusion.

4
Return to me at once:
It is awful without you,
I have never felt
More strongly about you.
And in the midnight drama
In dream or reality,
In alarm or languor,
I will call you.