No, I'll not take the half of anything! <br />Give me the whole sky! The far-flung earth! <br />Seas and rivers and mountain avalanches- <br />All these are mine! I'll accept no less! <br /> <br />No, life, you cannot woo me with a part. <br />Let it be all or nothing! I can shoulder that! <br />I don't want happiness by halves, <br />Nor is half of sorrow what I want. <br /> <br />Yet there's a pillow I would share, <br />Where gently pressed against a cheek, <br />Like a helpless star, a falling star, <br />A ring glimmers on a finger of your hand. <br /> <br /> <br />1963 <br />Translated by George Reavey<br /><br />Yevgeny Yevtushenko<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/no-i-ll-no-take-half/
