Such a Dark Winter

Olga Berggolts

Such a dark winter,
Such long-drawn snowstorms!
Scarcely a glimmer of sunshine before
Night falls and it is dark again...

Such a stillness in the heart,
Not a sound, not even a moan...
It hears death-and does not speak.
And who would answer? The emptiness . . .
No, not that winter, not that one...

And even the unexpected, brief
Return of your tenderness,
What's that to me? Like these storm clouds,
Beneath which life is darker still-
And it's too late for me to sing.

But did not I myself predict
That this would be;
That a winter would come without light,
Without laughter, utterly.