Английская поэзия XIV–XX веков в современных русских переводах

As withereth the primrose by the river,

As fadeth summer’s sun from gliding fountains,

As vanisheth the light-blown bubble ever,

As melteth snow upon the mossy mountains:

So melts, so vanishes, so fades, so withers

The rose, the shine, the bubble and the snow

Of praise, pomp, glory, joy — which short life gathers —

Fair praise, vain pomp, sweet glory, brittle joy.

The withered primrose by the mourning river,

The faded summer’s sun from weeping fountains,

The light-blown bubble, vanishéd for ever,

The molten snow upon the naked mountains,

  Are emblems that the treasures we up-lay

  Soon wither, vanish, fade and melt away.

For as the snow, whose lawn did overspread

The ambitious hills, which giant-like did threat

To pierce the heaven with their aspiring head,

Naked and bare doth leave their craggy seat;

Whenas the bubble, which did empty fly

The dalliance of the undiscernéd wind,

On whose calm rolling waves it did rely,

Hath shipwreck made, where it did dalliance find;

And when the sunshine, which dissolved the snow,

Coloured the bubble with a pleasant vary,

And made the rathe and timely primrose grow,

Swarth clouds withdrawn (which longer time do tarry) —

  Oh, what is praise, pomp, glory, joy, but so

  As shine by fountains, bubbles, flowers or snow?