Nikolay Gumilev’s poem “The Giraffe” about an exquisite giraffe on Lake Chad

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”