Yavor’s work is also online at liternet.bg
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Author’s Note:
* Apsaras, in Hindu mythology, heavenly nymph of great beauty, often represented as a dancer at the court of the Hindu god Indra. In early Hindu sculptures apsarases are frequently depicted with gandharvas, their heavenly consorts. Apsarases also appear in Buddhist art.
Ivan Vazov, 1850-1921
Translated from the Bulgarian by
Yavor Dimitrov
The Bay of Naples
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From A May Bunch of Flowers (1880)
Naples Sea, you’re amazing at night
With the Zephyr’s scarf unrolled,
When your blue, crystal waters of light
Suffuse the moon with gold.
In a charming night how I love to float
On those dormant waves of yours,
And observe Vesuvius from a small boat
Smoke into the celestial gauze,
Or watch Naples sleep under your caresses,
Or gaze at the lifeless Pompeii Forum,
And exchange loud kisses with Apsarases*
Arm in arm with your sweet indecorum.
What Is a Poet’s Soul Like?
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From Italy (1884)
A tight and chiming string
that resounds to anything—
a single stroke or evil blow—
always by the same rondo.
