Евгений Онегин / Eugene Onegin

Beneath the sheltering oak tree’s shade

He with his little maiden played,

Whilst the fond parents, friends thro’ life,

Dreamed in the future man and wife.

And full of innocent delight,

As in a thicket’s humble shade,

Beneath her parents’ eyes the maid

Grew like a lily pure and white,

Unseen in thick and tangled grass

By bee and butterfly which pass.

XXII

�Twas she who first within his breast

Poetic transport did infuse,

And thoughts of Olga first impressed

A mournful temper on his Muse.

Farewell! thou golden days of love!

�Twas then he loved the tangled grove

And solitude and calm delight,

The moon, the stars, and shining night —

The moon, the lamp of heaven above,

To whom we used to consecrate

A promenade in twilight late

With tears which secret sufferers love —

But now in her effulgence pale

A substitute for lamps we hail!

XXIII

Obedient she had ever been

And modest, cheerful as the morn,

As a poetic life serene,

Sweet as the kiss of lovers sworn.

Her eyes were of cerulean blue,

Her locks were of a golden hue,

Her movements, voice and figure slight,

All about Olga – to a light

Romance of love I pray refer,

You’ll find her portrait there, I vouch;

I formerly admired her much

But finally grew bored by her.

But with her elder sister I

Must now my stanzas occupy.

XXIV

Tattiana was her appellation.

We are the first who such a name

In pages of a love narration

With such a perversity proclaim.

But wherefore not? – �Tis pleasant, nice,

Euphonious, though I know a spice

It carries of antiquity

And of the attic. Honestly,

We must admit but little taste

Doth in us or our names appear

(I speak not of our poems here),

And education runs to waste,

Endowing us from out her store

With affectation, – nothing more.

XXV

And so Tattiana was her name,

Nor by her sister’s brilliancy

Nor by her beauty she became

The cynosure of every eye.

Shy, silent did the maid appear

As in the timid forest deer,

Even beneath her parents’ roof

Stood as estranged from all aloof,

Nearest and dearest knew not how

To fawn upon and love express;

A child devoid of childishness

To romp and play she ne’er would go:

Oft staring through the window pane

Would she in silence long remain.