English Poetry. Oliver Goldsmith. Epitaph on Thomas Parnell. Оливер Голдсмит. Эпитафия Томасу Парнеллу

Oliver Goldsmith (Оливер Голдсмит)

Epitaph on Thomas Parnell

THIS tomb, inscrib'd to gentle Parnell's name,
May speak our gratitude, but not his fame.
What heart but feels his sweetly-moral lay,
That leads to truth through pleasure's flowery way!
Celestial themes confess'd his tuneful aid;
And Heaven, that lent him genius, was repaid.
Needless to him the tribute we bestow --
The transitory breath of fame below:
More lasting rapture from his works shall rise,
While Converts thank their poet in the skies. 

Перевод на русский язык

Эпитафия Томасу Парнеллу

Могилу, в коей кроткий Парнелл спит,
Не слава, но признательность кропит.
Его нравоучений строй певучий
Вел душу к истине стезей созвучий,
Он пел небесное своей цевницей -
За щедрость Небу отплатил сторицей.
Нет нужды льстить ему хвалений данью
Пресеклось славы  краткое дыханье,
Но долговечны книги - духа яства.
Их воспоет признательная паства.

Перевод А. Парина

Oliver Goldsmith’s other poems:

1. Answer to an Invitation to Pass the Christmas at Barton
2. On Seeing a Lady Perform a Certain Character
3. From the Latin of Vida
4. Song, from the Comedy of “She Stoops to Conquer”
5. A Sonnet

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