abenteuerer — Esmeralda (feat. Vladimir Nabokov)

(ɔ) no rights reserved текст и декламация — Владимир Набоков *** Esmeralda! Now we rest Here, in the bewitched and blest Mountain forests of the West. Here the very air is stranger. Damzel, anchoret, and ranger Share the woodland's dream and danger. And to think I deemed you dead! (In a dungeon, it was said: Tortured, strangled); but instead— Blue birds from the bluest fable, Bear and hare in coats of sable, Peacock moth on picnic table. Huddled roadsigns softly speak Of Lake Merlin, Castle Creek, And (obliterated) Peak. Do you recognize that сlover? Dandelions, l'or du pauvre? (Europe, nonetheless, is over). Up the turf, along the burn, Latin lilies climb and turn In to Gothic fir and fern. Cornfields have befouled the prairies But these canyons laugh! And there is Still the forest with its fairies. And I rest where I awoke In the sea shade — l'ombre glauque Of a legendary oak; Where the woods get ever dimmer, Where the Phantom Orchids glimmer— Esmeralda, immer, immer. (Vladimir Nabokov, 'Lines written in Oregon', 1953) #spokenword #experimental #rock #indie #nabokov #набоков