Сынок моряка
И ведьмино чадо
В смоле, что липка,
Не пачкались смлада.
Служила волна
Ему колыбелью,
Училась она
Заваривать зелья.
Потом корабли
Он вел через шхеры,
А ведьму сожгли
На пламени серы.
Curious Circumstance
By Elinor Wylie
THE sailorman's child
And the girl of the witch--
They can't be defiled
By touching pitch.
The sailorman's son
Had a ship for a nursery;
The other one
Was baptised by sorcery.
Although he's shipped
To the Persian Gulf, her
Body's been dipped
In burning sulphur.