25-June, 2012
Knowing naught of life’s consuming pain
Нұрлы аспанға тырысып өскенсін сен
Рос ты, к небу устремляясь головой
Knowing naught of life’s consuming pain,
Children strain to grow and reach the sky.
So the shoots of spring stretch toward the sun
And the frosts of winter months defy. Read more »
Is not the cold damp earth to enclose my clay when it dies?
Өлсем орным қара жер сыз болма ма?
Когда умру, не стану ль я землей?
Is not the cold damp earth to enclose my clay when it dies?
Will not my fearless tongue become like a timid maid?
Will not my heart be frozen, turned into lifeless ice,
My heart, that fought against vice and the biddings of love obeyed? Read more »
In the silent, luminous night
Желсіз түнде жарық ай
Тихой ночью при луне
In the silent, luminous night
On the water the moonbeams quiver.
In the gully beyond the aul
Tumultuous, roars the river. Read more »
If an empty heart is accompanied
Жүректе қайрат болмаса
If an empty heart is accompanied
By a lack of reason and will,
The immortal light of the soul will fade
And your human worth will be nil. Read more »
I hoped—the leaves of hope are shed.
Жапырағы қуарған ескі үмітпен
Я надеялся – листья надежды желты
I hoped—the leaves of hope are shed.
I dreamed—my dreams were all deceit.
It pains my heart when I recall
My tale of ruin and defeat. Read more »
Ever weaker and duller beats my heart
Ауру жүрек ақырын соғады жай
Все слабее и все глуше сердца бой
Ever weaker and duller beats my heart
Lying compressed in my ailing breast.
Every now and then with fright it will start.
By day and by night it knows no rest. Read more »
Do you remember your youth, my friend,
Есіңде бар ма жас күнің
Ты помнишь ли юность друг
Do you remember your youth, my friend,
When your blood was fiery hot?
You were drunk with life, you had joy without end,
All strangers were friends, all foes forgot. Read more »
Day after day falls behind.
Күн артынан күн туар
Дни за днями чредой
Day after day falls behind.
No peace in the world can I find.
Thought follows thought in my mind
Swifter than any wind.
Translated by Dorian Rottenberg
White
Қыс
Зима
Broad-shouldered, white-coated, powdered with snow,
Blind and dumb, with a great big silvery beard,
Grandad Winter plods on with a frown on his brow,
By everything living hated and feared. Read more »
Autumn
Күз
Осень
The clouds are grey and gloomy, boding rain.
An autumn mist envelops the bare earth.
Chasing each other through the spacious plain,
To warm themselves, run foals of last year’s birth. Read more »