'There's a secret border in human closeness,'

by Anna Akhmatova

　　There's a secret border in human closeness,

　　That love's being, love's passion, cannot pass –

　　Though lips are sealed together in dreadful silence,

　　Though hearts break in two with love's distress.

　　And friendship too is powerless, and years

　　Of sublime flame-filled happiness,

　　When the soul itself is free, a stranger,

　　To the slow languor of sensuality.

　　Those who try to reach that boundary are mad,

　　And those who have – are filled with anguish.

　　Now you know, now you understand,

　　Why my heart won't beat at your caress.