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# Mikhail Svetlov's 1962 poem about loss, grief and the nearness of death
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/nikomu-ne-prichiniaia-zla-zhil-i-zhil-ia-v-seredine-veka-i-ko-mne-doverchivost-prishla-pervaia-podruga-cheloveka/
- Published: 2024-05-04T16:08:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:48:47.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books

Doing no harm to anyone, I lived and lived in the middle of the century, and trust came to me, the first friend of man.

How many losses I have endured,  
How much my lips have kept silent!  
Now grief too has knocked at the door,  
And I welcomed it as warmly as I could.

Somewhere close is my last hour,  
Beyond the wall it taps with its heels...  
I shall vanish, embracing you  
With hands growing cold.

Into eternity my face will float,  
Looking at nothing, at no one,  
And a child, stepping out onto the porch,  
Will smile: "Goodbye, uncle!"

*Literal translation*

Mikhail Svetlov, 1962