Like a sudden cloud’s shadow,
a sea-visitor swoops by
rippling past with a sigh,
along the embarrassed coast.
An enormous sail lifts austerely,
deathly-white, and the wave
shrinks back – not yet brave
enough to hug the shore so nearly:
and the boat, rustling the waves,
like leaves…
Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam
