Along the Hard Crest of the Snowdrift

Along the hard crest of the snowdrift
to my white, mysterious house,
both of us quiet now,
keeping silent as we walk.
And sweeter than any song
this dream we now complete—
the trembling of branches we brush against,
the soft ringing of your spurs.


Translated from the Russian by Jane Kenyon


"Along the Hard Crest of the Snowdrift" by Anna Akhmatova, translated by Jane Kenyon, from From Room to Room. Copyright © 1978 by Jane Kenyon. Reprinted with the permission of Donald Hall.