David, just don’t go around telling people Pushkin is morbid. They’ll look at you funny. Pushkin is everything. That’s the most famous statement about him, made by a 19th-century Russian critic: “Pushkin is our everything.” Since you found this poem a downer, here’s a little pick-me-up from Pushkin himself:
If you find that life deceives you,
don’t be angry, don’t be glum.
Humbly bear the day that grieves you:
days of joy, believe, will come!
In the future lives the heart,
and, though dreary be the present,
all is fleeting, all will part,
and what’s parted will be pleasant.
Season’s greetings to you too, feller (I think my mother would say “feller” sometimes in fun)!
Carl
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