by Anna Akhmatova
Drowsiness returns me
To our last starry paradise –
That city of pure fountains,
Golden Bakhchisarai.
There behind the striped fence,
By pensive waters,
We remembered with joy
The gardens of Tsarskoye Selo.
And suddenly we saw
Catherine’s eagle – there!
Swooping into the valley
From the wondrous gate of bronze.
To keep the song of the pain of parting
Alive in the memory,
Autumn in her dark skirt
Brought the red leaves.
Scattered them on the steps,
Where I said farewell,
Whence into the realm of shadows
You my consolation, fled.