Marina Tsvetaeva wrote hundreds upon hundreds of poems. 

Marina Tsvetaeva wrote hundreds upon hundreds of poems. 

Below is but a tiny sampling of her work. For a full collection (in Russian) and a few translations into English, visit tsvetayeva.com

I’d like to live with you

In a little town,

With its eternal twilights

And eternal bells.

And in a little village inn –

The faint chime

Of ancient clocks — like droplets of time.

And sometimes, in the evenings, 

   from some garret —

A flute,

And the flautist in the window.

And big tulips in the window sills.

And maybe, you would even love me . . .

In the middle of the room — a huge tile oven,

On each tile — a little picture:

A rose, a heart, a ship.

And in the only window —

Snow, snow, snow.

You would lie the way I love you: idle,

Indifferent, carefree.

Occasionally the sharp strike

Of a match.

The cigarette glows and slakes,

And trembling for a long, long time on its tip

Is a short grey pillar of ash.

You’re too lazy even to flick it —

And the whole cigarette flies into the fire.

December 10, 1916

+   +   +   +   +

From out of a severe, well-built church

You strode into the screaming square...

‘Freedom!’ The Fair Lady

Of marquises and Russian princes.

The awful choir practice is ending,

The Liturgy is still to come!

‘Freedom!’ The wanton girl

At the naughty soldier’s breast!

May 26, 1917

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Time to remove the amber,

Time to change dictionaries,

Time to slake the lantern.

The one over the door . . .

February 1941

ADDITIONAL READING

Death of a Poet, by Irma Kudrova (Overlook, $29.95) An account of how the forces of history and Fate conspired to destroy the life of one of the 20th century’s most talented and esteemed poets.

Unforced Labors, Diane Nemec Ignashev, transl. and ed. (Vozvrashchenia, $25) A fascinating compilation of memoirs by Ariadna Efron (Tsvetaeva’s daughter) and her close friend, Ada Federholf, with vivid personal accounts of their lives during and after the camps. 

The Double Beat of Heaven and Hell, by Lily Feiler (Duke, $49.95) A more psychological approach to Tsvetaeva, seeking the roots of her inner conflict in her troubled childhood.