87 Untitled (1919)

A brilliant cavalier dances, gliding with his lady-

A beslobbered tailcoat, a terribly white bodice.

Through the acrid smoke of English cigarettes

You strive toward me almost like Sulamith. (A reference to the biblical bride 

                                                                                                                               Sulamith.)

Your longing gaze shines with sweetness,

The soul lives and every nerve suffers!

No !  Aside with love, the heart, and Baudelaire,

And you, young maid, so profligate !

Vasilii Katanian