Winter Morning

    by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin
              (1799-1837)

Frost and the sun; a splendid morning!
My dear friend, you still lie dormant,--
It's time, my beauty, rise in cheer:
Ope your eyelids lulled by night
To the splendor of the northern lights
And like the northern star appear!

Recall the night, the storm was raging,
The murky sky was turning hazy,
The yellow moon, like a pale stain,
Was by the dismal clouds hidden,
As heavyhearted you were sitting--
But now...look out the window panes:

Beneath the sun and the skies azure,
Like carpets with a magic lure,
The sparkling snow gently lies,
Darker becomes only the forest,
As firs turn greener through the hoar,
And through the ice the river shines.

The whole room like amber glows,
The cheerfully crackling stove
Warms up the morning air.
What bliss to lie in contemplation,
Why not arrange in this elation
To harness a brown mare?

And gliding on the morning snow,
My dear friend, we'll swiftly go,
Led by the horse's ardent glee,
We'll see the spacious fields, the forest
That was so dense a while ago,
And the snowy shore so dear to me.
 

                       --translated by Alexander Shaumyan