"One by one he calls night out of the teeth"
Mandelstam, Auden, Seiferle, Merwin, Alomar
Osip Mandelstam (tr. from Russian by Clarence Brown and W.S. Merwin):
W.H. Auden:
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Rebecca Seiferle:
W.S. Merwin:
Osama Alomar (tr. from Arabic by C.J. Collins and Osama Alomar):
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We live, but cannot feel the earth,
And if we speak, we can’t be heard.
But wherever you hear a half-conversation,
They talk of that backwoods lout in the Kremlin.
Ten fat fingers like greasy worms,
Each of his words weighs fifty pounds.
His moustache bristles in cockroach laughter,
And his polished jackboots glitter.
His gang surrounds him, a spineless crew,
Half-men who do what he tells them to.
Some growl, some whimper, some yowl and hiss,
But he alone rages and bangs his fists.
Decree on decree like horseshoes fly
At groin, forehead, eyebrow, eye.
Each execution—sweet as a berry,
To this broad-chested thug from Gori.
"...Why is his cheerfulness/ even more frightening than his anger?"
...raises goosebumps...