Не каждый юн, кто умирал —
Созревшая Судьба
По возрасту делила всех
Иль в ночь кого вела —
Седой мальчишка мне знаком,
Себя не поберёг
В сравнении со стариком,
Смерть — акт, не жизни срок.
990
Not all die early, dying young —
Maturity of Fate
Is consummated equally
In Ages, or a Night —
A Hoary Boy, I've known to drop
Whole statured — by the side
Of Junior of Fourscore — 'twas Act
Not Period — that died.
Emily Dickinson
Thomas Johnson's Note on Poem 990:
MANUSCRIPTS: There are three, identical in text, all written about 1865. That reproduced above (Bingham 78c) is in packet 92. A second copy (H 298), signed "Emily -," and presumably sent to Sue, differs in form only in the punctuation of the last line:
"Not Period, that died -"
A third copy (H H 98), in pencil, addressed "Doctor." and signed "Emily -," was sent to Dr. Holland. It is without stanza division, "Hoary" (line 5) is not capitalized, a dash concludes line 7, and the punctuation of line 8 is the same as that in the copy to Sue.
PUBLICATION: The text of the copy to Dr. Holland is in Letters (ed. 1894), 177; (ed. 1931), 171; also LL (1924), 261. The text in LH (1951), 72, reproduces that in Letters.
Стихи.ру 17 октября 2015 года