Mastodon You by Vladimir Mayakovsky - A New Translation by Jenny Wade

You – New Translation of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s Poem

Ты
Пришла—
деловито,
за рыком,
за ростом,
взглянув,
разглядела просто мальчика.
Взяла,
отобрала сердце
и просто
пошла играть—
как девочка мячиком.
И каждая—
чудо будто видится—
где дама вкопалась,
а где девица.
«Такого любить?
Да этакий ринется!
Должно, укротительница.
Должно, из зверинца!»
А я ликую.
Нет его—
ига!
От радости себя не помня,
скакал,
индейцем свадебным прыгал,
так было весело,
было легко мне.

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Lambent 42, oil and spray paint on linen, Justine Frischmann

You
Walked up—
businesslike,
behind my roar,
behind my height,
took one look,
and saw I was just a boy.
Without a second thought,
you took my heart away
and simply
went off to play—
like a girl with a ball.
And every one–
as if witnessing a miracle–
here a lady is rooted to the ground,
over there, a girl.
“Love someone like that?
That kind will pounce on you!
She must be a lion tamer.
She must be from the zoo!”
But I was rejoicing.
It’s gone—
that burden!
Out of my mind with joy,
I was jumping,
I was leaping like an Indian at a wedding,
that’s how happy I felt,
how light.

–Vladimir Mayakovsky, translated by Jenny Wade

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