Gavrila Derzhavin
Here’s a rare thing: a poem I translated by myself, without Derek.
I had fun with Derzhavin’s “On the Occasion of the Demolition of the Moscow Kremlin by the Architect Bazhenov in the Year 1770 to Build a New Palace, as the Author was Departing from Moscow for Petersburg” (from the 100 Poems anthology for which I was translation editor).
Scroll down on the linked page to see the original and translation side-by-side.
Farewell, capital city, edifice magnificent,
Marvel of antiquity: Moscow, Russia’s adornment!
Proud are your heights, gleaming are your crowns:
In days of yore you were created to astound. …Прости, престольный град, великолепно зданье
Чудесной древности, Москва, Россий блистанье!
Сияющи верхи и горды вышины,
На диво в давний век вы были созданы. …