Fyodor Sologub Poems

All the world's ruled by the Dragon -
Fiery, mad, wicked, perverse.
Let me praise him with a humble,
Daring and ironic curse:
...

I have enchanted all of Nature
And forged each moment's quality.
And what a horrifying freedom
I found in such a sorcery!
...

We are all captured beasts,
And we howl - as we might.
We can't open the doors,
For the doors are locked tight.
...

A son was born to a poor peasant.
A foul old woman stepped inside
The hut, with trembling bony fingers
Clawing her tangled locks aside.
...

Wine and joy are completely forgotten,
As well as his armor and sword.
Alone he descends in the rotten
Mysterious dungeon. The door
...

When, heaving on the stormy waters,
I felt my ship beneath to sink,
I prayed, "Oh, Father Satan, save me,
Forgive me at death's utter brink!
...

In a gay jar upon his shoulder
The slave morosely carries wine.
His road is rough with bog and boulder,
And in the sky no starlights shine.
...

What are our villages, destitute,
Or the whole of time and of space?
Father's mansions exist in a multitude, -
We don't know their name, and their place.
...

When I sailed in a sea of tempests,
And when my ship sunk into sea,
I wildly cried: "My friend, the best one,
My dear Devil, pray, help me!
...

The painful genius, great Shakespeare,
You never trusted in deceitful tales -
In all your Hamlets, Calibans, Macbeths,
And lighted inside me the fire, I'm to bear.
...