Osip Emilevich Mandelstam

Here you will find thePoemIn Petersburg we'll meet againof poet Osip Emilevich Mandelstam

In Petersburg we'll meet again

In Petersburg we'll meet again, As though we'd buried the sun there, And for the first time utter The blessed, senseless word. In the black velvet of Soviet night, In the velvet of worldwide emptiness, The kind eyes of touched women still sing, The immortal flowers still bloom. 2 The capitol arches like a wildcat, A patrol is standing on the bridge, A single angry motor speeds by in the dark, And cries out like a cuckoo. I do not need a pass for the evening, I am not afraid of the sentries: I will pray in the Soviet night For the blessed and senseless word. 3 I hear the theater's light rustling And a young girl's 'Oh' -- In Kypris'arms, a huge bunch Of immortal roses. Out of boredom, we warm ourselves By a bonfire. Perhaps centuries will pass, And the kind hands of touched women Will gather up the light ashes. 4 Somewhere the red rows of the gallery, The sumptuous chiffon of the boxes; The clockwork-puppet of the officer; Not for black souls or vile hypocrites . . . Right. Put out, please, our candles In the black velvet of worldwide emptiness, The sloped shoulders of blessed women still sing, But you won't notice the night sun.