Eugene Oneguine [Onegin]. A Romance of Russian Life in Verse

In my young days of wild delight 
On balls I madly used to dote, 
Fond declarations they invite 
Or the delivery of a note.

So hearken, every worthy spouse, 

I would your vigilance arouse, 
Attentive be unto my rhymes 
And due precautions take betimes.

Ye mothers also, caution use, 

Upon your daughters keep an eye, 
Employ your glasses constantly, 
For otherwise—God only knows!

I lift a warning voice because 

I long have ceased to offend the laws.

XXVII

Alas! life's hours which swiftly fly
I've wasted in amusements vain,
But were it not immoral I
Should dearly like a dance again.

I love its furious delight,

The crowd and merriment and light,
The ladies, their fantastic dress,
Also their feet—yet ne'ertheless
Scarcely in Russia can ye find
Three pairs of handsome female feet;

Ah! I still struggle to forget

A pair; though desolate my mind,
Their memory lingers still and seems
To agitate me in my dreams.

XXVIII

When, where, and in what desert land, 
Madman, wilt thou from memory raze 
Those feet? Alas! on what far strand 
Do ye of spring the blossoms graze?

Lapped in your Eastern luxury, 

No trace ye left in passing by 
Upon the dreary northern snows, 
But better loved the soft repose 
Of splendid carpets richly wrought. 
I once forgot for your sweet cause 
The thirst for fame and man's applause, 
My country and an exile's lot; 
My joy in youth was fleeting e'en 
As your light footprints on the green.

XXIX

Diana's bosom, Flora's cheeks,
Are admirable, my dear friend,
But yet Terpsichore bespeaks
Charms more enduring in the end.

For promises her feet reveal

Of untold gain she must conceal,
Their privileged allurements fire
A hidden train of wild desire.

I love them, O my dear Elvine,[15]

Beneath the table-cloth of white,
In winter on the fender bright,
In springtime on the meadows green,
Upon the ball-room's glassy floor
Or by the ocean's rocky shore.

XXX

Beside the stormy sea one day 
I envied sore the billows tall, 
Which rushed in eager dense array 
Enamoured at her feet to fall.

How like the billow I desired 

To kiss the feet which I admired! 
No, never in the early blaze 
Of fiery youth's untutored days 
So ardently did I desire 
A young Armida's lips to press, 
Her cheek of rosy loveliness 
Or bosom full of languid fire,— 
A gust of passion never tore 
My spirit with such pangs before.

XXXI