Биографы за ломаный пятак
Расскажут все: как бил его Отец,
Как он бежал, какой ценой и как
Признания добился наконец,
Боролся, и искал, и не сдавался,
Работал от зари и до зари,
Все выше не без страха поднимался,
Дал имя морю, плакал от любви.
И, к удивленью общему, вздыхал
По ком-то там, кого никто не знал -
Она едва ль из дома выезжала
И жизнь вполне обычную вела:
Хозяйство, сад; на письма отвечала
Через одно. И те не берегла.
***
A shilling life will give you all the facts:
How Father beat him, how he ran away,
What were the struggles of his youth, what acts
Made him the greatest figure of his day
Of how he fought, fished, hunted, worked all night,
Though giddy, climbed new mountains; named a sea:
Some of the last researchers even write
Love made him weep his pints like you and me.
With all his honours on, he sighed for one,
Who, say astonished critics, lived at home;
Did little jobs about the house with skill
And nothing else; could whistle; would sit still
Or potter round the garden; answered some
Of his long marvelous letters but kept none