Sergey Esenin's "Golden Grove"

The two translations are obviously translating the same poem, but the words chosen by the different translators create a different feel for each translation. While they both use imagery to describe the hemp fields and the moon, the poems have quite a different point of view. Philip Nikolayev's translation left the reader with a feeling of content and satisfied silence. However, the translation from www.russianlegacy.com left the reader feeling anxious in the uncomfortable silence.

Although this poem is not one of my favorites, I prefer Philip Nikolayev's translation because of his word choice and depiction of the situation. The cranes flying South for the winter appears to be a metaphor for a refreshing start for the narrator. The traveling of the birds reminds him of his fun past, which contained a bit of traveling and wandering. Although both poems contain endings that emphasize silence and a long road ending, the russian legacy translation ends the poem with a forgetting of all past experiences, no matter if the narrator learns from them or not.