Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov

Today we note the birth date of Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov (February 28, 1866 – July 16, 1949) poet and playwright associated with the Russian Symbolist movement. He was also a philosopher, translator, and literary critic.

Here is one of his poems for your consideration:

Clothed In Beauty

As if chiseled, a fruit-laden branch
Hangs in my garden, asleep - so low...
The trees sleep - and dream? - in moonlight;
And the mystery of their life is near, near...

Even if we cannot grasp it,
The mute language is still intelligible:
They use our beauty to express
How we are one amidst rays and spots of light.

And the tremor of any life's creation
Reveals itself in a lovely form;
And the variance of different things is sweetened
By shared beauty. Multiply it!

And the world will be like this unstirring garden,
Where everything heeds a harmonious silence:
Both stem and flower yield to the dear Earth;
Both flower and stem listen to the Moon.

--Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov