I'm a huuuge lover of Russian poetry, probably 9 out my top 10 poets are Russian. I doubt much of it can be translated into English in a meaningful way, but it's in the trying and failing we grow, and occasionally produce a gem; I decided to start a thread with my English translations of my favourite Russian poetry. I haven't got any up my sleeve so I'll be making them up as I go, picking whichever poem and poet I happen to fancy. If you have such translations to share, or would like to request a translation of a Russian poem, feel free to join in on the fun!
*drumroll* ta-da-da-da-da-ta-tara-raaaaa... First out... The one and only, the Grand Old Man, the Greatest Russian Evah, ze Poet wiz ze big 'P'.... Pushkin Alexandr Sergeyevich! The Founder of the Russian Language, who did what every poet is expected to do - lived a wild life full of women, wine and weapons, loved with a burning desire, hated with vengeance and died in a duel over a lady's heart at the tender age of 37.
Instead of translating the entire Yevgeny Onegin, which would probably only take a year or ten, I give you "It's time, my friend" (Пора, мой друг, пора!) from 1834. I took some freedom of interpretation towards the end of the poem, but it's pretty close to the original, and the rhythm and rhyming scheme are preserved.
Time, my friend, it's time! My heart desires rest -
the days are flying past, every hour is a theft
of an ounce of Beingness while you and me pretend
to live our lives - and lo! are left to face the end.
No happiness there is, but freedom - yes, and peace;
long have I longed for a way to be at ease,
I, tired slave, to flee into that distant land
to fill my hourglass with everflowing sand.