The Flower
By Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin
A dead, pale flower falls,
Forgotten, from a yellowed page.
And so by a strange dream
My soul is filled.
When did this flower bloom, and where?
In what long-distant spring? Was it a familiar
Or a stranger's hand that picked it?
Who pressed it in these pages here, and why?
Was it in memory of a tender meeting
Or anticipation of a fateful parting?
Or was it found on a solitary stroll
In a quiet field, or shaded wood?
And is she still living? And is he?
Together, did they find their way?
Or were they lost, like youth, like love,
Like this forgotten flower?
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I woke up this morning with this poem in my head. Unfortunately, I can't remember exactly the translation of it I first read in college 16 years ago, and a lengthy online search brought up entirely inferior translations (some with clunky rhymes, some with colorful additions). I don't read Russian, so this was the best I could do from memory, trying to translate the translations back into the spare language of the version of the poem I fell in love with.
For some reason LJ is not forwarding me notifications when people leave comments on my posts. I thought the story I posted last night must have been incredibly godawful until I realized that in fact people were leaving feedback -- it just wasn't getting to my mailbox. If you leave me a comment someplace and I don't respond to it, please don't think I'm ignoring you -- I probably have not spotted it. Write to me if you want to be certain!
Speaking of mail, I owe a great many letters that need to be more than two sentences and I have been putting those off until I have time not to rush. But I have not had time not to rush. If I owe you e-mail, I apologize and the reason I am so late is that I want to write an actual letter!
So I took the Slash Purity Test and discovered that I have been reading and watching way too much gen and het. No surprise there; I LIKE gen and het...
Here is the result of your Slash Fanfic Purity Test.
You answered "yes" to 95 of 123 questions, with a total value of 153 points out of 189, making you 19.0% slash pure (81.0% slash corrupt); that is, you are 19.0% pure in the slash domain.
Your Weirdness Factor (AKA Uniqueness Factor) is 47%, based on a comparison of your test results with 4882 other submissions for this test.
The average purity for this test is 59.9%.
The first submission for this test was received December 22, 1999.
Happy belated birthday to
Laura Barnes Shipwreck, Coquina Beach, Outer Banks, North Carolina
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