The clever demon

My old good friend, my faithful Demon,
Had sung the little song to me:
All night of hell the sailor sailed on,
But drowned by the morn in sea.

Around him waves stood like domes,
They fell and loomed again above,
And before him, whiter than foam,
Was flying his unrivaled love.

He heard the call, while he was flitting,
"I'll not deceive you, trust in me."
Remember, — said this Demon, witty, —
He drowned at the morn in sea.

(From Poetry Lovers' Page,
translated by Bonver, Yevgeny)