| Если бы не ты, кто б меня спасал? | Had you not been, who’d have drawn me from the torrent’s snare? |
| Кто бы успокоил и приласкал, | Who else could hush my storms with gentle hand and care, |
| Кто бы наших растил детей | Who would have sown our children’s roots in fertile loam, |
| И любимых встречал гостей? | And opened wide the hearth for friends returning home? |
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| Для кого бы я продолжала петь? | For whom else would my song have dared to sound anew? |
| В чьи глаза бы вечно могла глядеть? | In whose deep gaze could I find dawn’s perpetual hue? |
| Кто б без слов все понимал, | Who else could read the silent script my spirit weaves, |
| Крепко-крепко обнимал? | And clasp me close as ivy clings to ancient eaves? |
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| Ты мой день и ночь, | You are my day’s bright hush, my night’s unfurling shroud, |
| Мой свет и дождь, | My lamp through drifts of summer rain, |
| Ты - миг и век, | You are the instant—winged and proud— |
| Мой любимый человек! | And the slow-turning age: my beloved, once again. |
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| Ты мой свет и тень, | You are my light in flight, my shadow’s cool retreat, |
| Мой побег и плен, | My rushing escape, my sweet captivity, |
| Ты - миг и век, | You are the instant—winged and fleet— |
| Мой любимый человек! | And the slow-turning age: my beloved, endlessly. |
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| Без тебя бы как я могла узнать, | Had you not come, how could I ever have discerned, |
| Что двоих судьба может так связать, | That fate can bind two threads by flame and not be burned, |
| Что нет лучше и важней | That nothing holds more weight or breathes more true |
| Самых близких моих людей. | Than those bound nearest to my soul—my cherished, precious few. |
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| До конца с тобой я хочу идти, | With you I long to walk while all the stars remain, |
| В темноте твои узнавать шаги, | In darkness, know your footfall’s secret, sure refrain, |
| И, пройдя весь этот путь, | And when the journey ends at midnight’s final gate, |
| На твоем плече уснуть. | Upon your shoulder gently drift—to sleep, to dream, to wait. |
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| Ты мой день и ночь, | You are my day’s bright hush, my night’s enfolding veil, |
| Мой свет и дождь, | My lantern through the drenching rain, |
| Ты - миг и век, | You are the instant—swift and pale— |
| Мой любимый человек! | And the slow-turning age: my beloved, once again. |
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| Ты мой свет и тень, | You are my light and shade, my shadow’s hidden den, |
| Мой побег и плен, | My flight and my surrendering pain, |
| Ты - миг и век, | You are the instant—swift, and then— |
| Мой любимый человек! | And the slow-turning age: my beloved, my one man. |