And So One Night...

And So One Night

David Samoylov

About David Samoylov

David Samoylov (Дави́д Само́йлов, 1920-1990) was a prominent Russian poet of the Soviet Great Patriotic War generation. The hardships endured by his generation deeply shaped his early poetry, which often reflects the trauma and resilience of wartime experience. Beyond his historical and military themes, Samoylov wrote lyrical poetry on landscapes and love, developing a distinctive autobiographical myth in his verse. He was also an accomplished translator, working with Estonian, Polish, Czech, and Hungarian literature, and the author of a theoretical work on rhyme in Russian poetry.

About This Poem

A poem about a nocturnal walk in which the author wanders aimlessly along the water’s edge and through abandoned parks. It is characterized by a soft, murmuring musicality that mirrors its semantic field: night, sea, singing trees, mist, and visions. Near rhymes and echoing sounds create a floating, fluid soundscape, while each return of the refrain resets the movement, reinforcing the poem’s wandering, aimless mood.

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И вот одна́жды но́чью
Я вы́шел. Пе́ло мо́ре.
Дере́вья то́же пе́ли.
Я шёл без вся́кой це́ли.
Каки́м-то та́йным зву́ком
Я был в ту по́ру по́зван.
И к облака́м и звёздам
Я шёл без вся́кой це́ли.
Я слы́шал, как кипе́ли
В сада́х больши́е ли́пы.

Я шёл без вся́кой це́ли
Вдоль лу́га и вдоль мо́ря.
Я шёл без вся́кой це́ли,
И мне каза́лись стра́нны
Теку́чие тума́ны.
И спа́ли карусе́ли.
Я шёл без вся́кой це́ли
Вдоль де́тских развлече́ний -
Каче́лей, карусе́лей,
Вдоль лу́га и вдоль мо́ря,
Я шёл в толпе́ виде́ний,
Я шёл без вся́кой це́ли.

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And so one night
I walked out. The sea was singing.
The trees were also singing.
I walked without a purpose.
By some kind of secret sound
I was, at that time, called,
And to the clouds and stars
I walked without a purpose.
I heard how rustled
in the garden the big lindens.

I walked without a purpose.
Along the meadow and along the sea.
I walked without a purpose.
And to me seemed strange
the flowing mists.
And the carousels were sleeping.
I walked without a purpose.
Along children's attractions -
Swings, carousels,
Beside the meadow and along the sea,
I walked in a crowd of visions.
I walked without a purpose.

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