Pushkin: It’s Time, My Friend…
Pushkin wrote this poem at a very difficult time in his life: he had been named a “kammerjunker” — a lowly rank in Russia’s Imperial Court that was given to Pushkin as an insult. To make matters worse, it chained him to Petersburg, since he was expected to appear regularly (in uniform) at official court functions. The poem here echoes thoughts expressed in letters to his wife (which, by the way, the police were intercepting, reading, and even giving to the Tsar himself to read — another outrage!). He dreamed of escaping the vanities of high society in the capital city and living a quiet life of secluded creativity on his country estate. Alas, he never really found the peace he longs for here, and would die in a duel three years later. But, we could talk about that all day!
This poems always calls to mind a quote from Baudelaire:
At every moment, we are crushed by the idea and the sensation of time. There are only two means for escaping from this nightmare: pleasure and work. Pleasure consumes us; work fortifies us. Let us choose.
A chaque minute nous sommes écrasés par l'idée et la sensation du temps. Et il n'y a que deux moyens pour échapper à ce cauchemar : le plaisir et le travail. Le plaisir nous use. Le travail nous fortifie. Choisissons.
It’s time, my friend, it’s time
It’s time, my friend, it’s time! The heart longs for calm;
The days fly by, one after the other, and each hour bears away
A particle of being, while we two, you and I,
Suppose to live, and yet — just then — we die.
There is no joy in the world, but there is peace, and will.
Long have I dreamed of an enviable lot;
Long have I, a weary slave, been plotting an escape
Into a distant abode of labors and pure delights.
***
Пора, мой друг, пора! Покоя сердце просит —
Летят за днями дни, и каждый час уносит
Частичку бытия, а мы с тобой вдвоём
Предполагаем жить, и глядь — как раз — умрём.
На свете счастья нет, но есть покой и воля.
Давно завидная мечтается мне доля —
Давно, усталый раб, замыслил я побег
В обитель дальнюю трудов и чистых нег.
1834
Vocab notes
покой, -я: peace • сердце: heart • просить И /попросить И: to ask for • летать АЙ - лететь Е / полететь Е: to fly • час: hour • уносить И / унести С: to bear away • частичка: часть, -и: bit, part • бытие: being, existence • предполагать АЙ / предположить И: suppose • глядь: lo, behold, look • счастье: joy воля: will, freedom • завидный: enviable • доля: lot • усталый: weary • раб: slave • замыслить И: to conceive, plot • побег: escape • обитель, -и: abode дальний: distant • труд: labor • нега: delight
