| Deutsch and Yarmolinsky, comps. Modern Russian Poetry. 1921. | | | | “A Little Black Man” | | By Alexander Blok (1880–1921) |
| | | A LITTLE black man ran through the city. | |
| He extinguished the lanterns, climbing the stairs. | |
| Slow and white, dawn was approaching, | |
| With the strange little man climbing the stairs. | |
| Where quiet, soft shadows brooded over the town, | 5 |
| Where the yellow strips of the lanterns were sleeping, | |
| Morning twilight upon the steps lay down, | |
| Into the curtains, into the door-shadows creeping. | |
| Oh, how poor is the city with dawn at her windows lying! | |
| Crouching outside, the little black man is crying. | 10 | | | |
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