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# Nikolay Gumilev’s poem “The Giraffe” about an exquisite giraffe on Lake Chad
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/segodnia-ia-vizhu-osobenno-grusten-tvoi-vzgliad-i-ruki-osobenno-tonki-koleni-obniav/
- Published: 2023-08-02T07:01:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:46:49.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, Nature

Today, I see, your gaze is especially sad,  
And your arms especially thin as you clasp your knees.  
Listen: far, far away, on Lake Chad,  
An exquisite giraffe wanders.  
Graceful slenderness and languor are granted to him,  
And his hide is adorned with a magical pattern,  
With which only the moon would dare to compare,  
Breaking up and swaying on the water of broad lakes.  
From afar he is like the coloured sails of a ship,  
And his running is smooth, like the joyous flight of a bird.  
I know that the earth sees many wonders  
When at sunset he hides in a marble grotto.  
I know merry tales of mysterious lands  
About a black maiden, about the passion of a young chieftain,  
But you have breathed the heavy fog for too long,  
You do not want to believe in anything except rain.  
And how shall I tell you about a tropical garden,  
About slender palms, about the scent of unimaginable herbs…  
— You are crying? Listen… far away, on Lake Chad  
An exquisite giraffe wanders.

*Literal translation*

*Nikolay Gumilev, “The Giraffe”*

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_9469@02-08-2023_10-01-07.jpg)