Good-bye Baku

Good-bye, Baku! So, I shall never see you…

And I’m afraid of fate, my southern land.

The heart is under hand and it’s so near.

And now I feel two simple words: my friend.

Good-bye, Baku! Oh, Turkic sky, good-bye!

The blood is very cold, I’m weak, you see…

But I can promise you, I’ll keep in mind

The tender wave of Caspian great sea.

Good-bye, Baku! Good-bye, my simple song…

For the last time I’ll hug my friend, I’ll stroke

His head. It’s like a golden rose. So long

It’ll nod to me in choking lilac smoke…

Serguei Iessenin

1925

(Translated from the Russian by Alexei Artemov)