Vera Pavlova Translations

Vera Pavlova English Translations of Russian Poems I shattered your heart; now I limp through the shards barefoot. —Vera Pavlova, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Winter? a beast. Spring? a bud. Summer? a bug. Autumn? a bird. The rest of the time I'm a woman. —Vera Pavlova, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Immortalize me! With your bare, warm palm please sculpt and mold my malleable snow. Polish me until I glow. —Vera Pavlova, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Scales: on the one hand joy; on the other sorrow. Sorrow is the weightier; therefore joy elevates. —Vera Pavlova, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch I walk a tightrope, balanced by a child in each arm. —Vera Pavlova, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch God saw it was good. Adam saw it was impressive. Eve saw it was improvable. —Vera Pavlova, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch A muse inspires when she arrives, a wife when she departs, a mistress when she’s absent. Would you like me to manage all that simultaneously? —Vera Pavlova, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch You, my dear, are my shielding stone: to sing behind, or bash my head on. —Vera Pavlova, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Remember me as I am this instant: abrupt and absent, my words fluttering like moths trapped in a curtain. —Vera Pavlova, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch I have been dropped and fell from such immense heights for so long that perhaps I still have enough time to learn how to fly. —Vera Pavlova, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Vera Pavlova is a Russian poet. Born in Moscow, she is a graduate of the Schnittke College of Music and the Gnessin Academy of Music, where she specialized in music history. She is the author of twenty collections of poetry, four opera librettos, and the lyrics to two cantatas. Her poetry has appeared in The New Yorker and other major literary publications. Keywords/Tags: Pavlova, Russian, translation, Russia, epigram, shards, seasons, scales, tightrope, mother, child, arm, sorrow, joy, shattered, heart, broken, glass, limp, limping, barefoot, snow, sculpt, mold, polish