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Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Bakchesarian Fountain and Other Poems + +Author: Alexander Pushkin and other authors + +Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8192] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 30, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BAKCHESARIAN FOUNTAIN *** + + + + +Produced by David Starner, Robert Connal +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1 class="centered">THE BAKCHESARIAN FOUNTAIN.<br> +<br> +BY<br> +<br> +ALEXANDER POOSHKEEN.</h1> + +<p> </p> + +<p> </p> + +<h2 class="centered">AND OTHER POEMS, BY VARIOUS AUTHORS,<br> +</h2> + +<p> </p> + +<p> </p> + +<h2 class="centered">TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL RUSSIAN,<br> +<br> +BY<br> +<br> +WILLIAM D. LEWIS.</h2> + +<p> </p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>TO<br> +<br> +MY RUSSIAN FRIENDS,<br> +<br> +THE FOLLOWING EFFORT TO RENDER INTO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE A +FAVOURITE POEM OF ONE OF THEIR MOST ADMIRED BARDS, AND SOME SHORTER +PRODUCTIONS OF OTHER RUSSIAN POETS, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, AS A +SMALL TESTIMONIAL OF GRATITUDE FOR THE MANY KINDNESSES OF WHICH I +WAS THE OBJECT IN THEIR MOST HOSPITABLE COUNTRY, IN EARLY LIFE.</p> + +<p>THE TRANSLATOR.</p> + +<p>Philadelphia, July, 1849.</p> + +<h3>THE BAKCHESARIAN FOUNTAIN.<br> +<br> +A TALE OF THE TAURIDE.</h3> + +<p>Mute sat Giray, with downcast eye,<br> + As though some spell in sorrow bound him,<br> + His slavish courtiers thronging nigh,<br> + In sad expectance stood around him.<br> + The lips of all had silence sealed,<br> + Whilst, bent on him, each look observant,<br> + Saw grief's deep trace and passion fervent<br> + Upon his gloomy brow revealed.<br> + But the proud Khan his dark eye raising,<br> + And on the courtiers fiercely gazing,<br> + Gave signal to them to begone!<br> + The chief, unwitnessed and alone,<br> + Now yields him to his bosom's smart,<br> + Deeper upon his brow severe<br> + Is traced the anguish of his heart;<br> + As full fraught clouds on mirrors clear<br> + Reflected terrible appear!<br> +</p> + +<p>What fills that haughty soul with pain?<br> + What thoughts such madd'ning tumults cause?<br> + With Russia plots he war again?<br> + Would he to Poland dictate laws?<br> + Say, is the sword of vengeance glancing?<br> + Does bold revolt claim nature's right?<br> + Do realms oppressed alarm excite?<br> + Or sabres of fierce foes advancing?<br> + Ah no! no more his proud steed prancing<br> + Beneath him guides the Khan to war,--<br> + Such thoughts his mind has banished far.<br> +</p> + +<p>Has treason scaled the harem's wall,<br> + Whose height might treason's self appal,<br> + And slavery's daughter fled his power,<br> + To yield her to the daring Giaour?<br> +</p> + +<p>No! pining in his harem sadly,<br> + No wife of his would act so madly;<br> + To wish or think they scarcely dare;<br> + By wretches, cold and heartless, guarded,<br> + Hope from each breast so long discarded;<br> + Treason could never enter there.<br> + Their beauties unto none revealed,<br> + They bloom within the harem's towers,<br> + As in a hot-house bloom the flowers<br> + Which erst perfumed Arabia's field.<br> + To them the days in sameness dreary,<br> + And months and years pass slow away,<br> + In solitude, of life grown weary,<br> + Well pleased they see their charms decay.<br> + Each day, alas! the past resembling,<br> + Time loiters through their halls and bowers;<br> + In idleness, and fear, and trembling,<br> + The captives pass their joyless hours.<br> + The youngest seek, indeed, reprieve<br> + Their hearts in striving to deceive<br> + Into oblivion of distress,<br> + By vain amusements, gorgeous dress,<br> + Or by the noise of living streams,<br> + In soft translucency meand'ring,<br> + To lose their thoughts in fancy's dreams,<br> + Through shady groves together wand'ring.<br> + But the vile eunuch too is there,<br> + In his base duty ever zealous,<br> + Escape is hopeless to the fair<br> + From ear so keen and eye so jealous.<br> + He ruled the harem, order reigned<br> + Eternal there; the trusted treasure<br> + He watched with loyalty unfeigned,<br> + His only law his chieftain's pleasure,<br> + Which as the Koran he maintained.<br> + His soul love's gentle flame derides,<br> + And like a statue he abides<br> + Hatred, contempt, reproaches, jests,<br> + Nor prayers relax his temper rigid,<br> + Nor timid sighs from tender breasts,<br> + To all alike the wretch is frigid.<br> + He knows how woman's sighs can melt,<br> + Freeman and bondman he had felt<br> + Her art in days when he was younger;<br> + Her silent tear, her suppliant look,<br> + Which once his heart confiding shook,<br> + Now move not,--he believes no longer!<br> +</p> + +<p>When, to relieve the noontide heat,<br> + The captives go their limbs to lave,<br> + And in sequestered, cool retreat<br> + Yield all their beauties to the wave,<br> + No stranger eye their charms may greet,<br> + But their strict guard is ever nigh,<br> + Viewing with unimpassioned eye<br> + These beauteous daughters of delight;<br> + He constant, even in gloom of night,<br> + Through the still harem cautious stealing,<br> + Silent, o'er carpet-covered floors,<br> + And gliding through half-opened doors,<br> + From couch to couch his pathway feeling,<br> + With envious and unwearied care<br> + Watching the unsuspecting fair;<br> + And whilst in sleep unguarded lying,<br> + Their slightest movement, breathing, sighing,<br> + He catches with devouring ear.<br> + O! curst that moment inauspicious<br> + Should some loved name in dreams be sighed,<br> + Or youth her unpermitted wishes<br> + To friendship venture to confide.<br> +</p> + +<hr> +<p>What pang is Giray's bosom tearing?<br> + Extinguished is his loved <em>chubouk</em>, <a name= +"fnr1"></a> <a href="#fn1" class="fnsuper">1</a><br> + Whilst or to move or breathe scarce daring,<br> + The eunuch watches every look;<br> + Quick as the chief, approaching near him,<br> + Beckons, the door is open thrown,<br> + And Giray wanders through his harem<br> + Where joy to him no more is known.<br> + Near to a fountain's lucid waters<br> + Captivity's unhappy daughters<br> + The Khan await, in fair array,<br> + Around on silken carpets crowded,<br> + Viewing, beneath a heaven unclouded,<br> + With childish joy the fishes play<br> + And o'er the marble cleave their way,<br> + Whose golden scales are brightly glancing,<br> + And on the mimic billows dancing.<br> + Now female slaves in rich attire<br> + Serve sherbet to the beauteous fair,<br> + Whilst plaintive strains from viewless choir<br> + Float sudden on the ambient air.<br> +</p> + +<p class = "indent">TARTAR SONG.</p> + +<p class = "indent">I.</p> + +<p class = "indent">Heaven visits man with days of sadness,<br> + Embitters oft his nights with tears;<br> + Blest is the Fakir who with gladness<br> + Views Mecca in declining years.<br> +</p> + +<p class = "indent">II.</p> + +<p class = "indent">Blest he who sees pale Death await him<br> + On Danube's ever glorious shore;<br> + The girls of Paradise shall greet him,<br> + And sorrows ne'er afflict him more.<br> +</p> + +<p class = "indent">III.</p> + +<p class = "indent">But he more blest, O beauteous Zarem!<br> + Who quits the world and all its woes,<br> + To clasp thy charms within the harem,<br> + Thou lovelier than the unplucked rose!<br> +</p> + +<p>They sing, but-where, alas! is Zarem,<br> + Love's star, the glory of the harem?<br> + Pallid and sad no praise she hears,<br> + Deaf to all sounds of joy her ears,<br> + Downcast with grief, her youthful form<br> + Yields like the palm tree to the storm,<br> + Fair Zarem's dreams of bliss are o'er,<br> + Her loved Giray loves her no more!<br> +</p> + +<p>He leaves thee! yet whose charms divine<br> + Can equal, fair Grusinian! thine?<br> + Shading thy brow, thy raven hair<br> + Its lily fairness makes more fair;<br> + Thine eyes of love appear more bright<br> + Than noonday's beam, more dark than night;<br> + Whose voice like thine can breathe of blisses,<br> + Filling the heart with soft desire?<br> + Like thine, ah! whose inflaming kisses<br> + Can kindle passion's wildest fire?<br> +</p> + +<p>Who that has felt thy twining arms<br> + Could quit them for another's charms?<br> + Yet cold, and passionless, and cruel,<br> + Giray can thy vast love despise,<br> + Passing the lonesome night in sighs<br> + Heaved for another; fiercer fuel<br> + Burns in his heart since the fair Pole<br> + Is placed within the chief's control.<br> +</p> + +<p>The young Maria recent war<br> + Had borne in conquest from afar;<br> + Not long her love-enkindling eyes<br> + Had gazed upon these foreign skies;<br> + Her aged father's boast and pride,<br> + She bloomed in beauty by his side;<br> + Each wish was granted ere expressed.<br> + She to his heart the object dearest,<br> + His sole desire to see her blessed;<br> + As when the skies from clouds are clearest,<br> + Still from her youthful heart to chase<br> + Her childish sorrows his endeavour,<br> + Hoping in after life that never<br> + Her woman's duties might efface<br> + Remembrance of her earlier hours,<br> + But oft that fancy would retrace<br> + Life's blissful spring-time decked in flowers.<br> + Her form a thousand charms unfolded,<br> + Her face by beauty's self was moulded,<br> + Her dark blue eyes were full of fire,--<br> + All nature's stores on her were lavished;<br> + The magic harp with soft desire,<br> + When touched by her, the senses ravished.<br> + Warriors and knights had sought in vain<br> + Maria's virgin heart to move,<br> + And many a youth in secret pain<br> + Pined for her in despairing love.<br> + But love she knew not, in her breast<br> + Tranquil it had not yet intruded,<br> + Her days in mirth, her nights in rest,<br> + In her paternal halls secluded,<br> + Passed heedless, peace her bosom's guest.<br> +</p> + +<p>That time is past! The Tartar's force<br> + Rushed like a torrent o'er her nation,--<br> + Rages less fierce the conflagration<br> + Devouring harvests in its course,--<br> + Poland it swept with devastation,<br> + Involving all in equal fate,<br> + The villages, once mirthful, vanished,<br> + From their red ruins joy was banished,<br> + The gorgeous palace desolate!<br> + Maria is the victor's prize;--<br> + Within the palace chapel laid,<br> + Slumb'ring among th'illustrious dead,<br> + In recent tomb her father lies;<br> + His ancestors repose around,<br> + Long freed from life and its alarms;<br> + With coronets and princely arms<br> + Bedecked their monuments abound!<br> + A base successor now holds sway,--<br> + Maria's natal halls his hand<br> + Tyrannic rules, and strikes dismay<br> + And wo throughout the ravaged land.<br> +</p> + +<p>Alas! the Princess sorrow's chalice<br> + Is fated to the dregs to drain,<br> + Immured in Bakchesaria's palace<br> + She sighs for liberty in vain;<br> + The Khan observes the maiden's pain,<br> + His heart is at her grief afflicted,<br> + His bosom strange emotions fill,<br> + And least of all Maria's will<br> + Is by the harem's laws restricted.<br> + The hateful guard, of all the dread,<br> + Learns silent to respect and fear her,<br> + His eye ne'er violates her bed,<br> + Nor day nor night he ventures near her;<br> + To her he dares not speak rebuke,<br> + Nor on her cast suspecting look.<br> + Her bath she sought by none attended,<br> + Except her chosen female slave,<br> + The Khan to her such freedom gave;<br> + But rarely he himself offended<br> + By visits, the desponding fair,<br> + Remotely lodged, none else intruded;<br> + It seemed as though some jewel rare,<br> + Something unearthly were secluded,<br> + And careful kept untroubled there.<br> +</p> + +<p>Within her chamber thus secure,<br> + By virtue guarded, chaste and pure,<br> + The lamp of faith, incessant burning,<br> + The VIRGIN'S image blest illumed,<br> + The comfort of the spirit mourning<br> + And trust of those to sorrow doomed.<br> + The holy symbol's face reflected<br> + The rays of hope in splendour bright,<br> + And the rapt soul by faith directed<br> + To regions of eternal light.<br> + Maria, near the VIRGIN kneeling,<br> + In silence gave her anguish way,<br> + Unnoticed by the crowd unfeeling,<br> + And whilst the rest, or sad or gay,<br> + Wasted in idleness the day,<br> + The sacred image still concealing,<br> + Before it pouring forth her prayer,<br> + She watched with ever jealous care;<br> + Even as our hearts to error given,<br> + Yet lighted by a spark from heaven,<br> + Howe'er from virtue's paths we swerve,<br> + One holy feeling still preserve.<br> +</p> + +<hr> +<p>Now night invests with black apparel<br> + Luxurious Tauride's verdant fields,<br> + Whilst her sweet notes from groves of laurel<br> + The plaintive Philomela yields.<br> + But soon night's glorious queen, advancing<br> + Through cloudless skies to the stars' song,<br> + Scatters the hills and dales along,<br> + The lustre of her rays entrancing.<br> + In Bakchesaria's streets roamed free<br> + The Tartars' wives in garb befitting,<br> + They like unprisoned shades were flitting<br> + From house to house their friends to see,<br> + And while the evening hours away<br> + In harmless sports or converse gay.<br> + The inmates of the harem slept;--<br> + Still was the palace, night impending<br> + O'er all her silent empire kept;<br> + The eunuch guard, no more offending<br> + The fair ones by his presence, now<br> + Slumbered, but fear his soul attending<br> + Troubled his rest and knit his brow;<br> + Suspicion kept his fancy waking,<br> + And on his mind incessant preyed,<br> + The air the slightest murmur breaking<br> + Assailed his ear with sounds of dread.<br> + Now, by some noise deceitful cheated,<br> + Starts from his sleep the timid slave,<br> + Listens to hear the noise repeated,<br> + But all is silent as the grave,<br> + Save where the fountains softly sounding<br> + Break from their marble prisons free,<br> + Or night's sweet birds the scene surrounding<br> + Pour forth their notes of melody:<br> + Long does he hearken to the strain,<br> + Then sinks fatigued in sleep again.<br> +</p> + +<p>Luxurious East! how soft thy nights,<br> + What magic through the soul they pour!<br> + How fruitful they of fond delights<br> + To those who Mahomet adore!<br> + What splendour in each house is found,<br> + Each garden seems enchanted ground;<br> + Within the harem's precincts quiet<br> + Beneath fair Luna's placid ray,<br> + When angry feelings cease to riot<br> + There love inspires with softer sway!<br> +</p> + +<hr> +<p>The women sleep;--but one is there<br> + Who sleeps not; goaded by despair<br> + Her couch she quits with dread intent,<br> + On awful errand is she bent;<br> + Breathless she through the door swift flying<br> + Passes unseen; her timid feet<br> + Scarce touch the floor, she glides so fleet.<br> + In doubtful slumber restless lying<br> + The eunuch thwarts the fair one's path,<br> + Ah! who can speak his bosom's wrath?<br> + False is the quiet sleep would throw<br> + Around that gray and care-worn brow;<br> + She like a spirit vanished by<br> + Viewless, unheard as her own sigh!<br> +</p> + +<hr> +<p>The door she reaches, trembling opes,<br> + Enters, and looks around with awe,<br> + What sorrows, anguish, terrors, hopes,<br> + Rushed through her heart at what she saw!<br> + The image of the sacred maid,<br> + The Christian's matron, reigning there,<br> + And cross attracted first the fair,<br> + By the dim lamp-light scarce displayed!<br> + Oh! Grusinka, of earlier days<br> + The vision burst upon thy soul,<br> + The tongue long silent uttered praise,<br> + The heart throbs high, but sin's control<br> + Cannot escape, 'tis passion, passion sways!<br> +</p> + +<p>The Princess in a maid's repose<br> + Slumbered, her cheek, tinged like the rose,<br> + By feverish thought, in beauty blooms,<br> + And the fresh tear that stains her face<br> + A smile of tenderness illumes.<br> + Thus cheers the moon fair Flora's race,<br> + When by the rain opprest they lie<br> + The charm and grief of every eye!<br> + It seemed as though an angel slept<br> + From heaven descended, who, distressed,<br> + Vented the feelings of his breast,<br> + And for the harem's inmates wept!<br> + Alas! poor Zarem, wretched fair,<br> + By anguish urged to mere despair,<br> + On bended knee, in tone subdued<br> + And melting strain, for pity sued.<br> +</p> + +<p> "Oh! spurn not such a suppliant's prayer!"<br> + Her tones so sad, her sighs so deep,<br> + Startled the Princess in her sleep;<br> + Wond'ring, she views with dread before her<br> + The stranger beauty, frighted hears<br> + For mercy her soft voice implore her,<br> + Raises her up with trembling hand,<br> + And makes of her the quick demand,<br> + "Who speaks? in night's still hour alone,<br> + Wherefore art here?" "A wretched one,<br> + To thee I come," the fair replied,<br> + "A suitor not to be denied;<br> + Hope, hope alone my soul sustains;<br> + Long have I happiness enjoyed,<br> + And lived from sorrow free and care,<br> + But now, alas! a prey to pains<br> + And terrors, Princess hear my prayer,<br> + Oh! listen, or I am destroyed!<br> +</p> + +<p>Not here beheld I first the light,<br> + Far hence my native land, but yet<br> + Alas! I never can forget<br> + Objects once precious to my sight;<br> + Well I remember towering mountains,<br> + Snow-ridged, replete with boiling fountains,<br> + Woods pervious scarce to wolf or deer,<br> + Nor faith, nor manners such as here;<br> + But, by what cruel fate o'ercome,<br> + How I was snatched, or when, from home<br> + I know not,--well the heaving ocean<br> + Do I remember, and its roar,<br> + But, ah! my heart such wild commotion<br> + As shakes it now ne'er felt before.<br> + I in the harem's quiet bloomed,<br> + Tranquil myself, waiting, alas!<br> + With willing heart what love had doomed;<br> + Its secret wishes came to pass:<br> + Giray his peaceful harem sought,<br> + For feats of war no longer burned,<br> + Nor, pleased, upon its horrors thought,<br> + To these fair scenes again returned.<br> +</p> + +<p>"Before the Khan with bosoms beating<br> + We stood, timid my eyes I raised,<br> + When suddenly our glances meeting,<br> + I drank in rapture as I gazed;<br> + He called me to him,--from that hour<br> + We lived in bliss beyond the power<br> + Of evil thought or wicked word,<br> + The tongue of calumny unheard,<br> + Suspicion, doubt, or jealous fear,<br> + Of weariness alike unknown,<br> + Princess, thou comest a captive here,<br> + And all my joys are overthrown,<br> + Giray with sinful passion burns,<br> + His soul possessed of thee alone,<br> + My tears and sighs the traitor spurns;<br> + No more his former thoughts, nor feeling<br> + For me now cherishes Giray,<br> + Scarce his disgust, alas! concealing,<br> + He from my presence hastes away.<br> + Princess, I know the fault not thine<br> + That Giray loves thee, oh! then hear<br> + A suppliant wretch, nor spurn her prayer!<br> +</p> + +<p> Throughout the harem none but thou<br> + Could rival beauties such as mine<br> + Nor make him violate his vow;<br> + Yet, Princess! in thy bosom cold<br> + The heart to mine left thus forlorn,<br> + The love I feel cannot be told,<br> + For passion, Princess, was I born.<br> + Yield me Giray then; with these tresses<br> + Oft have his wandering fingers played,<br> + My lips still glow with his caresses,<br> + Snatched as he sighed, and swore, and prayed,<br> + Oaths broken now so often plighted!<br> + Hearts mingled once now disunited!<br> + His treason I cannot survive;<br> + Thou seest I weep, I bend my knee,<br> + Ah! if to pity thou'rt alive,<br> + My former love restore to me.<br> + Reply not! thee I do not blame,<br> + Thy beauties have bewitched Giray,<br> + Blinded his heart to love and fame,<br> + Then yield him up to me, I pray,<br> + Or by contempt, repulse, or grief,<br> + Turn from thy love th'ungenerous chief!<br> + Swear by thy <em>faith</em>, for what though mine<br> + Conform now to the Koran's laws,<br> + Acknowledged here within the harem,<br> + Princess, my mother's faith was thine,<br> + By that faith swear to give to Zarem<br> + Giray unaltered, as he was!<br> + But listen! the sad prey to scorn<br> + If I must live, Princess, have care,<br> + A dagger still doth Zarem wear,--<br> + I near the Caucasus was born!"<br> +</p> + +<p>She spake, then sudden disappeared,<br> + And left the Princess in dismay,<br> + Who scarce knew what or why she feared;<br> + Such words of passion till that day<br> + She ne'er had heard. Alas! was she<br> + To be the ruthless chieftain's prey?<br> + Vain was all hope his grasp to flee.<br> + Oh! God, that in some dungeon's gloom<br> + Remote, forgotten, she had lain,<br> + Or that it were her blessed doom<br> + To 'scape dishonour, life, and pain!<br> + How would Maria with delight<br> + This world of wretchedness resign;<br> + Vanished of youth her visions bright,<br> + Abandoned she to fates malign!<br> + Sinless she to the world was given,<br> + And so remains, thus pure and fair,<br> + Her soul is called again to heaven,<br> + And angel joys await it there!<br> +</p> + +<hr> +<p>Days passed away; Maria slept<br> + Peaceful, no cares disturbed her, now,--<br> + From earth the orphan maid was swept.<br> + But who knew when, or where, or how?<br> + If prey to grief or pain she fell,<br> + If slain or heaven-struck, who can tell?<br> + She sleeps; her loss the chieftain grieves,<br> + And his neglected harem leaves,<br> + Flies from its tranquil precincts far,<br> + And with his Tartars takes the field,<br> + Fierce rushes mid the din of war,<br> + And brave the foe that does not yield,<br> + For mad despair hath nerved his arm,<br> + Though in his heart is grief concealed,<br> + With passion's hopeless transports warm.<br> + His blade he swings aloft in air<br> + And wildly brandishes, then low<br> + It falls, whilst he with pallid stare<br> + Gazes, and tears in torrents flow.<br> +</p> + +<p>His harem by the chief deserted,<br> + In foreign lands he warring roved,<br> + Long nor in wish nor thought reverted<br> + To scene once cherished and beloved.<br> + His women to the eunuch's rage<br> + Abandoned, pined and sank in age;<br> + The fair Grusinian now no more<br> + Yielded her soul to passion's power,<br> + Her fate was with Maria's blended,<br> + On the same night their sorrows ended;<br> + Seized by mute guards the hapless fair<br> + Into a deep abyss they threw,--<br> + If vast her crime, through love's despair,<br> + Her punishment was dreadful too!<br> +</p> + +<p>At length th'exhausted Khan returned,<br> + Enough of waste his sword had dealt,<br> + The Russian cot no longer burned,<br> + Nor Caucasus his fury felt.<br> + In token of Maria's loss<br> + A marble fountain he upreared<br> + In spot recluse;--the Christian's cross<br> + Upon the monument appeared,<br> + (Surmounting it a crescent bright,<br> + Emblem of ignorance and night!)<br> + Th'inscription mid the silent waste<br> + Not yet has time's rude hand effaced,<br> + Still do the gurgling waters pour<br> + Their streams dispensing sadness round,<br> + As mothers weep for sons no more,<br> + In never-ending sorrows drowned.<br> + In morn fair maids, (and twilight late,)<br> + Roam where this monument appears,<br> + And pitying poor Maria's fate<br> + Entitle it the FOUNT OF TEARS!<br> +</p> + +<hr> +<p>My native land abandoned long,<br> + I sought this realm of love and song.<br> + Through Bakchesaria's palace wandered,<br> + Upon its vanished greatness pondered;<br> + All silent now those spacious halls,<br> + And courts deserted, once so gay<br> + With feasters thronged within their walls,<br> + Carousing after battle fray.<br> + Even now each desolated room<br> + And ruined garden luxury breathes,<br> + The fountains play, the roses bloom,<br> + The vine unnoticed twines its wreaths,<br> + Gold glistens, shrubs exhale perfume.<br> + The shattered casements still are there<br> + Within which once, in days gone by,<br> + Their beads of amber chose the fair,<br> + And heaved the unregarded sigh;<br> + The cemetery there I found,<br> + Of conquering khans the last abode,<br> + Columns with marble turbans crowned<br> + Their resting-place the traveller showed,<br> + And seemed to speak fate's stern decree,<br> + "As they are now such all shall be!"<br> + Where now those chiefs? the harem where?<br> + Alas! how sad scene once so fair!<br> + Now breathless silence chains the air!<br> + But not of this my mind was full,<br> + The roses' breath, the fountains flowing,<br> + The sun's last beam its radiance throwing<br> + Around, all served my heart to lull<br> + Into forgetfulness, when lo!<br> + A maiden's shade, fairer than snow,<br> + Across the court swift winged its flight;--<br> + Whose shade, oh friends! then struck my sight?<br> + Whose beauteous image hovering near<br> + Filled me with wonder and with fear?<br> + Maria's form beheld I then?<br> + Or was it the unhappy Zarem,<br> + Who jealous thither came again<br> + To roam through the deserted harem?<br> + That tender look I cannot flee,<br> + Those charms still earthly still I see!<br> +</p> + +<hr> +<p>He who the muse and peace adores,<br> + Forgetting glory, love, and gold,<br> + Again thy ever flowery shores<br> + Soon, Salgir! joyful shall behold;<br> + The bard shall wind thy rocky ways<br> + Filled with fond sympathies, shall view<br> + Tauride's bright skies and waves of blue<br> + With greedy and enraptured gaze.<br> + Enchanting region! full of life<br> + Thy hills, thy woods, thy leaping streams,<br> + Ambered and rubied vines, all rife<br> + With pleasure, spot of fairy dreams!<br> + Valleys of verdure, fruits, and flowers,<br> + Cool waterfalls and fragrant bowers!<br> + All serve the traveller's heart to fill<br> + With joy as he in hour of morn<br> + By his accustomed steed is borne<br> + In safety o'er dell, rock, and hill,<br> + Whilst the rich herbage, bent with dews,<br> + Sparkles and rustles on the ground,<br> + As he his venturous path pursues<br> + Where AYOUDAHGA'S crags surround!<br> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="fn1"></a> <a href="#fnr1">[1]</a> A +Turkish pipe.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p> </p> + +<h2>AMATORY AND OTHER POEMS,<br> +BY VARIOUS RUSSIAN AUTHORS.</h2> + +<p> </p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>[Several of the following translations were published +anonymously, many years since, in the "National Gazette," when +edited by Robert Walsh, Esq., and in the "Atlantic Souvenir," and +other periodicals.]</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p> </p> + +<h2>AMATORY AND OTHER POEMS.</h2> + +<h3>SONG.</h3> + +<p>I through gay and brilliant places<br> + Long my wayward course had bound,<br> + Oft had gazed on beauteous faces,<br> + But no loved one yet had found.<br> +</p> + +<p>Careless, onward did I saunter,<br> + Seeking no beloved to see,<br> + Rather dreading such encounter,<br> + Wishing ever to be free.<br> +</p> + +<p>Thus from all temptation fleeing,<br> + Hoped I long unchecked to rove,<br> + 'Till the fair Louisa seeing,--<br> + Who can see her, and not love?<br> +</p> + +<p>Sol, his splendid robes arrayed in,<br> + Just behind the hills was gone,<br> + When one eve I saw the maiden<br> + Tripping o'er the verdant lawn.<br> +</p> + +<p>Of a strange, tumultuous feeling,<br> + As I gazed I felt the sway,<br> + And, with brain on fire and reeling,<br> + Homeward quick I bent my way.<br> +</p> + +<p>Through my bosom rapid darting,<br> + Love 'twas plain I could not brave,<br> + And with boasted freedom parting,<br> + I became Louisa's slave.<br> +</p> + +<h3>THE HUSBAND'S LAMENT.<br> +<br> +BY P. PELSKY.</h3> + +<p>Parted now, alas! for ever<br> + From the object of my heart,<br> + Thus by cruel fate afflicted,<br> + Grief shall be my only part,<br> +</p> + +<p>I, bereft of her blest presence,<br> + Shall my life in anguish spend,<br> + Joy a stranger to my bosom,<br> + Wo with every thought shall blend.<br> +</p> + +<p>Double was my meed of pleasure<br> + When in it a share she bore,<br> + Of my pains, though keen and piercing,<br> + Viewing her I thought no more.<br> +</p> + +<p>All is past! and I, unhappy,<br> + Here on earth am left alone,<br> + All my transports now are vanished,<br> + Blissful hours! how swiftly flown.<br> +</p> + +<p>Vainly friends, with kind compassion,<br> + Me to calm my grief conjure,<br> + Vainly strive my heart to comfort,<br> + It the grave alone can cure.<br> +</p> + +<p>Fate one hope allows me only,<br> + Which allays my bosom's pain--<br> + Death our loving hearts divided,<br> + Death our hearts can join again!<br> +</p> + +<h3>COUNSEL.<br> +<br> +BY DMEETRIEFF.</h3> + +<p>Youth, those moments so entrancing,<br> + Spend in sports and pleasures gay,<br> + Mirth and singing, love and dancing,<br> + Like a shade thou'lt pass away!<br> +</p> + +<p>Nature points the way before us,<br> + Friends to her sweet voice give ear,<br> + Form the dances, raise the chorus,<br> + We but for an hour are here.<br> +</p> + +<p>Think the term of mirth and pleasure<br> + Comes no more when once gone by,<br> + Let us prize life's only treasure,<br> + Blest with love and jollity.<br> +</p> + +<p>And the bard all sorrows scorning,<br> + Who, though old, still joins your ring,<br> + With gay wreaths of flowers adorning<br> + Crown him that he still may sing.<br> +</p> + +<p>Youth, those moments so entrancing,<br> + Spend in sports and pleasures gay,<br> + Mirth and singing, love and dancing,<br> + Like a shade thou'lt pass away!<br> +</p> + +<h3>STANZAS.<br> +<br> +BY NELAIDINSKY.</h3> + +<p>He whose soul from sorrow dreary,<br> + Weak and wretched, nought can save,<br> + Who in sadness, sick and weary,<br> + Hopes no refuge but the grave;<br> + On his visage Pleasure beaming,<br> + Ne'er shall shed her placid ray,<br> + Till kind Fate, from wo redeeming,<br> + Leads him to his latest day.<br> +</p> + +<p>Thou this life preservest ever,<br> + My distress and my delight!<br> + And, though soul and body sever,<br> + Still I'll live a spirit bright;<br> + In my breast the heart that's kindled<br> + Death's dread strength can ne'er destroy,<br> + Sure the soul with thine that's mingled<br> + Must immortal life enjoy!<br> +</p> + +<p>That inspired by breath from heaven<br> + Need not shrink at mortal doom,<br> + To thee shall my vows be given<br> + In this world and that to come.<br> + My fond shade shall constant trace thee,<br> + And attend in friendly guise,<br> + Still surround thee, still embrace thee,<br> + Catch thy thoughts, thy looks, thy sighs.<br> +</p> + +<p>To divine its secret pondering,<br> + Close to clasp thy soul 'twill brave,<br> + And if chance shall find thee wandering<br> + Heedless near my silent grave,<br> + Even my ashes then shall tremble,<br> + Thy approach relume their fire,<br> + And that stone in dust shall crumble,<br> + Covering what can ne'er expire!<br> +</p> + +<h3>ODE TO THE WARRIORS OF THE DON.<br> +<br> +WRITTEN IN 1812, BY N.M. SHATROFF.</h3> + +<p>Sudden o'er Moscow rolls the dread thunder,<br> + Fierce o'er his proud borders Don's torrents flow,<br> + High swells each bosom, glowing with vengeance<br> + 'Gainst +the base foe.<br> +</p> + +<p>Scarce in loud accents spoke our good Monarch,<br> + "Soldiers of Russia! Moscow burns bright,<br> + Foemen destroy her,"--hundreds of thousands<br> + Rush +to the fight.<br> +</p> + +<p>"Who dare oppose God? who oppose Russians?"<br> + Cried the brave Hetman,--steeds round him tramp,--<br> + "The Frenchman's ashes quickly we'll scatter,<br> + Show +us his camp!<br> +</p> + +<p>"TSAR true-believing we are all ready,<br> + Thy throne's defenders, each proud heart bent<br> + By the assault th' invader's black projects<br> + To +circumvent.<br> +</p> + +<p>"Russians well know the rough road to glory,<br> + Rhine's banks by our troops soon shall be trod,<br> + We fight for vengeance, for love of country,<br> + And +faith in God!<br> +</p> + +<p>"BELIEVE and conquer, fear not for Russia,<br> + Awful the blow the cross-bearer strikes,<br> + Th'arkan <a name="fnr2"></a> <a href="#fn2" class="fnsuper">1</a> +is dreadful, the sword unsparing,<br> + Sharp +are our pikes.<br> +</p> + +<p>"Vain are Napoleon's skill, strength, and cunning,<br> + Nor do his hosts fill us with despair,<br> + For Michael <a name="fnr3"></a> <a href="#fn3" class= +"fnsuper">2</a> leads us, and Mary's <a name="fnr4"></a> <a href= +"#fn4" class="fnsuper">3</a> image<br> + With +us we bear.<br> +</p> + +<p>"To horse, brothers, haste, the foe approaches,<br> + Holy faith guides us, in God we trust,<br> + Quick, true believers, rush to the onset,<br> + God +aids the just!<br> +</p> + +<p>"Sternly rush on, friends, crush the vile Frenchman,<br> + Firm be as mountains when tempests blow,<br> + Oh! into Russia grant not the foul one<br> + +Further to go."<br> +</p> + +<p>Don, broad and mighty, poured forth her children,<br> + The world was amazed, pale with affright,<br> + Napoleon abandoned his fame, and sought<br> + +Safety in flight.<br> +</p> + +<p>On all sides alike pikes gleam around us,<br> + Through air hiss arrows, cannons bright flash,<br> + Bullets, like bees, in swarms fly terrific,<br> + +Mingling swords clash.<br> +</p> + +<p>Not half a million of fierce invaders<br> + Can meet the rage of Russia's attacks;<br> + Not more than they the timid deer shrinks at<br> + Sight +of Cossacks.<br> +</p> + +<p>O'er blood-drenched plains their red standards scattered,<br> + Their arms abandoned, spoils left behind:<br> + Death they now flee from, to loss of honour<br> + +Basely resigned.<br> +</p> + +<p>Vainly they shun it, fruitless their cunning,<br> + Jove's bird strikes down the blood-thirsty crow,<br> + The fame and bones of Frenchmen in Russia<br> + Alike +lie low.<br> +</p> + +<p>Thus th' ambitious usurper is vanquished,<br> + Thus his legions destroyed as they flee,<br> + Thus white-stoned Moscow, the first throned city,<br> + Once +more set free.<br> +</p> + +<p>To God, all potent, let thanks be rendered,<br> + Honoured our TSAR'S and each chieftain's name,<br> + To th'Empire safety, to Don's brave offspring<br> + +Laurels and fame!<br> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="fn2"></a> <a href="#fnr2">[1]</a> +Lasso.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="fn3"></a> <a href="#fnr3">[2]</a> +Kutuzoff.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="fn4"></a> <a href="#fnr4">[3]</a> The +Virgin.</p> + +<h3>SOLITUDE.<br> +<br> +BY MERZLIAKOFF.</h3> + +<p>Upon a hill, which rears itself midst plains extending wide,<br> + Fair flourishes a lofty OAK in beauty's blooming pride;<br> + This lofty oak in solitude its branches wide expands,<br> + All lonesome on the cheerless height like sentinel it stands.<br> + Whom can it lend its friendly shade, should Sol with fervour +glow?<br> + And who can shelter <em>it</em> from harm, should tempests rudely +blow?<br> + No bushes green, entwining close, here deck the neighbouring +ground,<br> + No tufted pines beside it grow, no osiers thrive around.<br> + Sad even to trees their cheerless fate in solitude if grown,<br> + And bitter, bitter is the lot for youth to live alone!<br> + Though gold and silver much is his, how vain the selfish +pride!<br> + Though crowned with glory's laurelled wreath, with whom that crown +divide?<br> + When I with an acquaintance meet he scarce a bow affords,<br> + And beauties, half saluting me, but grant some transient +words.<br> + On some I look myself with dread, whilst others from me fly,<br> + But sadder still the uncherished soul when Fate's dark hour draws +nigh;<br> + Oh! where my aching heart relieve when griefs assail me sore?<br> + My friend, who sleeps in the cold earth, comes to my aid no +more!<br> + No relatives, alas! of mine in this strange clime appear,<br> + No wife imparts love's fond caress, sweet smile, or pitying +tear;<br> + No father feels joy's thrilling throb, as he our transport +sees;<br> + No gay and sportive little ones come clambering on my knees;--<br> + Take back all honours, wealth, and fame, the heart they cannot +move,<br> + And give instead the smiles of friends, the tender look of +love!<br> +</p> + +<h3>TO MY ROSE.</h3> + +<p>Bright queen of flowers, O! Rose, gay blooming,<br> + How lovely are thy charms to me!<br> + Narcissus proud, pink unassuming,<br> + In beauty vainly vie with thee;<br> + When thou midst Flora's circle shinest,<br> + Each seems thy slave confessed to sigh,<br> + And thou, O! loveliest flower, divinest,<br> + Allur'st alone the passer's eye.<br> +</p> + +<p>To change thy fate the thought has struck me,<br> + Sweet Rose, in beauty, ah! how blest,<br> + For fair Eliza I will pluck thee,<br> + And thou shalt deck her virgin breast:--<br> + Yet, there thy beauties vainly shining,<br> + No more predominance will claim,<br> + To lilies, all thy pride resigning,<br> + Thou'lt yield without dispute thy fame.<br> +</p> + +<h3>TO CUPID.</h3> + +<p>Cupid, one arrow kindly spare,<br> + 'Twill yield me transport beyond measure,<br> + I'll not be mean, by heaven I swear,<br> + With Mary I'll divide the treasure.<br> +</p> + +<p>Thou wilt not?--Tyrant, now I see<br> + Thou lovest with grief my soul to harrow;<br> + To her thou'st given thy quiver--for me<br> + Thou hast not left a single arrow!<br> +</p> + +<h3>EVENING MEDITATIONS.</h3> + +<p>Nature in silence sank, and deep repose,<br> + Behind the mountain, Sol had ceased to glare,<br> + Timid the moon with modest lustre rose,<br> + Willing as though my misery to share.<br> + The past was quick presented to my mind,<br> + A gentle languor calmed each throbbing vein,<br> + My poor heart trembled as the leaves from wind,<br> + My melting soul owned melancholy's reign.<br> + Plain did each action of my life appear,<br> + Each feeling bade some fellow feeling start,<br> + On my parched bosom fell the flowing tear,<br> + And cooled the burning anguish of my heart.<br> + Moments of bliss, I cried, ah! whither flown?<br> + When Friendship breathed to me her soothing sighs,<br> + Twice have the fields with golden harvests shone,<br> + And still her blest return stern Fate denies!<br> + Cynthia, thou seest me lone my course pursue,<br> + Hopeless here roving, grief my only guide,<br> + Evenings long past thou call'st to Fancy's view,<br> + Forcing the tear down my pale cheek to glide.<br> + Friendless, of love bereft, what now my joy?<br> + Void are my heart and soul, a prey to pain,<br> + To love, to be beloved, can never cloy,<br> + But all on earth besides, alas! is vain!<br> +</p> + +<h3>THE LITTLE DOVE.<br> +<br> +BY DMETRIEFF.</h3> + +<p>The little dove, with heart of sadness,<br> + In silent pain sighs night and day,<br> + What now can wake that heart to gladness?<br> + His mate beloved is far away.<br> +</p> + +<p>He coos no more with soft caresses,<br> + No more is millet sought by him,<br> + The dove his lonesome state distresses,<br> + And tears his swimming eyeballs dim.<br> +</p> + +<p>From twig to twig now skips the lover,<br> + Filling the grove with accents kind,<br> + On all sides roams the harmless rover,<br> + Hoping his little friend to find.<br> +</p> + +<p>Ah! vain that hope his grief is tasting,<br> + Fate seems to scorn his faithful love,<br> + And imperceptibly is wasting,<br> + Wasting away, the little dove!<br> +</p> + +<p>At length upon the grass he threw him,<br> + Hid in his wing his beak and wept,<br> + There ceased his sorrows to pursue him,<br> + The little dove for ever slept.<br> +</p> + +<p>His mate, now sad abroad and grieving,<br> + Flies from a distance home again,<br> + Sits by her friend, with bosom heaving,<br> + And bids him wake with sorrowing pain.<br> +</p> + +<p>She sighs, she weeps, her spirits languish,<br> + Around and round the spot she goes,<br> + Ah! charming Chloe's lost in anguish,<br> + Her friend wakes not from his repose!<br> +</p> + +<h3>LAURA'S PRAYER.</h3> + +<p>As the harp's soft sighings in the silent valley,<br> + To high heaven reaching, lifts thy pious prayer,<br> + Laura, be tranquil! again with health shall nourish<br> + Thy +loved companion.<br> +</p> + +<p>O! ye gods, behold fair Laura sunk in anguish,<br> + Kneeling, O! behold her on the grassy hill,<br> + Mild evening's sportive zephyrs gently embracing<br> + Her +golden ringlets.<br> +</p> + +<p>Glist'ning with tears, her sad eyes to you she raises,<br> + Her fair bosom heaving like the swelling wave,<br> + Whilst in the solemn grove echo, clothed in darkness,<br> + +Repeats her accents.<br> +</p> + +<p>"O! gods, my friend beloved give again health's blessings,<br> + Faded are her cheeks now, dull her once bright eye,<br> + In her heart no pleasure,--killed by cruel sickness,<br> + As by +heat flowers.<br> +</p> + +<p>"But if your hard laws should bid her quit existence,<br> + Grant then my sad prayer, with her let me too die,"--<br> + Laura, be tranquil! thy friend thou'lt see reviving<br> + Like +spring's sweet roses.<br> +</p> + +<h3>THE STORM.<br> +<br> +BY DERJAVIN.</h3> + +<p>As my bark in restless ocean<br> + Mounts its rough and foaming hills,<br> + Whilst its waves in dark commotion<br> + Pass me, hope my bosom fills.<br> +</p> + +<p>Who, when warring clouds are gleaming,<br> + Quenches the destructive spark?<br> + Say what hand, where safety's beaming,<br> + Guides through rocks my little bark?<br> +</p> + +<p>Thou Creator! all o'erseeing,<br> + In this scene preserv'st me dread,<br> + Thou, without whose word decreeing<br> + Not a hair falls from my head.<br> +</p> + +<p>Thou in life hast doubly blest me,<br> + All my soul to thee's revealed,<br> + Thou amongst the great hast placed me,<br> + Be midst them my guide and shield!<br> +</p> + +<h3>TO MY HEART.</h3> + +<p>Why, poor heart, so ceaseless languish?<br> + Why with such distresses smart?<br> + Nought alleviates thy anguish,<br> + What afflicts thee so, poor heart?<br> +</p> + +<p>Heart, I comprehend not wrongly,<br> + Thou a captive art confest,<br> + Near Eliza thou beat'st strongly<br> + As thou'dst leap into her breast.<br> +</p> + +<p>Since 'tis so then, little throbber,<br> + You and I, alas! must part,<br> + I'd not be thy comfort's robber;<br> + To her I'll resign thee, heart.<br> +</p> + +<p>Yet the maid in compensation<br> + Must her own bestow on me,<br> + And with such remuneration<br> + Never shall I grieve for thee.<br> +</p> + +<p>But should she, thy sorrows spurning,<br> + This exchange, poor heart, deny,<br> + Then I'll bear thee, heart, though mourning,<br> + From her far and hasty fly.<br> +</p> + +<p>But, alas! no pain assuaging,<br> + That would but increase thy grief;<br> + If kind Death still not its raging,<br> + Granting thee a kind relief.<br> +</p> + +<h3>TIME.</h3> + +<p>O! Time, as thou on rapid wings<br> + Encirclest earth's extensive ball,<br> + Fatal thy flight to worldly things,<br> + Thy darts cut down and ruin all.<br> +</p> + +<p>A cloud from us thy form conceals;<br> + Enwrapt its gloomy folds among,<br> + Thou mov'st eternity's vast wheels,<br> + And with them movest us along.<br> +</p> + +<p>The swift-winged days thou urgest on,<br> + With them life's sand beholdest pass,<br> + And when our transient hours are gone,<br> + Thou smilest at their exhausted glass.<br> +</p> + +<p>Against Time's look, when he but frowns,<br> + All strength, and skill, and power, are vain;<br> + He withers laurels, wreaths, and crowns,<br> + And breaks the matrimonial chain.<br> +</p> + +<p>As Time moves onward, far and wide<br> + His restless scythe mows all away,<br> + All feels his breath, on every side<br> + All sinks, resistless, to decay.<br> +</p> + +<p>To youth's gay bloom and beauty's charms<br> + Mercy alike stern Time denies,<br> + Like vernal flowers o'erwhelmed by storms,<br> + Whate'er he looks at droops and dies.<br> +</p> + +<p>Huge piles from earth his mighty hand<br> + Sweeps to oblivion's empire dread,<br> + What villages, what cities grand,<br> + What kingdoms sink beneath his tread!<br> +</p> + +<p>Heroes in vain, his gauntlet cast,<br> + Oppose his stern and ruthless sway,<br> + Nor armies brave, nor mountains vast,<br> + Can thwart the devastator's way.<br> +</p> + +<p>Thought strives, but fruitless, to pursue<br> + The traces of Time's rapid flight,<br> + Scarce Fancy gains one transient view,<br> + He disappears and sinks in night.<br> +</p> + +<p>Think, thou whom folly's dazzling glare<br> + Of worldly vanities may blind,<br> + Time frowns and all will disappear,<br> + Nor gold a vestige leave behind.<br> +</p> + +<p>And thou whom fierce distresses sting,<br> + Thou by calamities low bowed,<br> + Weep not, for Time the day will bring<br> + That ranks the humble with the proud.<br> +</p> + +<p>But, Time, thy course of ruin stay,<br> + The lyre's sweet tones one moment hear,<br> + By thee o'er earth is spread dismay,<br> + Grief's sigh called forth, and pity's tear.<br> +</p> + +<p>Yet, Time, thy speed the dread decree<br> + Of retribution on thee brings,<br> + Eternity will swallow thee,<br> + Thy motion stop, and clip thy wings!<br> +</p> + +<h3>SONG.</h3> + +<p>Sweetly came the morning light,<br> + When fair Mary blest my sight,<br> + In her presence pleasures throng,<br> + Louder swelled the birds their song,<br> + +Pleasanter the day became.<br> +</p> + +<p>Not so radiant are Sol's rays,<br> + When on darkest clouds they blaze,<br> + As her look, so free from guile,<br> + As fair Mary's tender smile,<br> + As +the smile of my beloved.<br> +</p> + +<p>Not of dew the gems divine<br> + Shine as Mary's beauties shine,<br> + Not with hers the rose's dye<br> + On the fairest cheek can vie,<br> + None have +beauty like to hers.<br> +</p> + +<p>Mary's kiss as honey sweet,<br> + Pure as streamlet clear and fleet,<br> + Love inhabits her soft eyes,<br> + Floats in all her soothing sighs,<br> + Nought on earth so sweet +as she.<br> +</p> + +<p>Let us, Mary, now enjoy<br> + Nature's charms without alloy,<br> + Verdant lawn, and smiling grove;--<br> + Brooks that babble but of love<br> + Will +beside us softer flow.<br> +</p> + +<p>Let us seek the pleasant shade,<br> + Sit in bowers by us arrayed<br> + With gay flow'rets, where are heard<br> + Songs of many a pleasant bird,<br> + Which with rapture we +will join.<br> +</p> + +<p>In that sweet and lovely spot,<br> + All the cares of earth forgot,<br> + Thou, the comfort of my sight,<br> + Thou, my glory, my delight,<br> + Shalt my +soul to peace allure.<br> +</p> + +<h3>SONG.</h3> + +<p>The shades of spring's delicious even<br> + Invited all to soft repose,<br> + I only sighed to listening heaven<br> + In the still grove my bosom's woes.<br> +</p> + +<p>My heart's distress had Fate completed,<br> + Snatched from my sight my best beloved,<br> + And echo's busy voice repeated<br> + Sweet Mary's name where'er I roved.<br> +</p> + +<p>Without her sad the days and dreary,<br> + How cheerless drag life's moments on,<br> + Of pleasure's tumults sick and weary,<br> + All blissful thoughts for ever flown!<br> +</p> + +<p>But still to me more keen the anguish,<br> + With secret grief my heart must swell,<br> + That her for whom I ceaseless languish<br> + I dare not of my passion tell.<br> +</p> + +<p>No hope my cruel pain disarming,<br> + I live a prey to ceaseless wo,<br> + And Mary, sweet, and fair, and charming,<br> + How much I love her does not know.<br> +</p> + +<p>How shall I calm this bosom's raging?<br> + O! how alleviate its smart?<br> + Her tender look, all grief assuaging,<br> + Alone can cure my wounded heart.<br> +</p> + +<h3>SONG.</h3> + +<p>How blest am I thy charms enfolding,<br> + Cheerful thy smile as May's fair light,<br> + As Paradise thine eyes are bright,<br> + I all forget when thee beholding,--<br> + Thou canst not think how sweet thou art.<br> + Thy absence fills my soul with anguish,<br> + Beloved one! hopeless of relief<br> + I count the mournful hours in grief,<br> + My heart for thee doth ceaseless languish,--<br> + Thou canst not think how sweet thou art!<br> +</p> + +<h3>TO MARY.</h3> + +<p>Vainly, Mary, dost thou pray me<br> + Heedless of thy charms to live,<br> + If thou'dst have me, fair, obey thee,<br> + Thou another heart must give.<br> +</p> + +<p>One with stern indifference steeling,<br> + That could know thee and be free,<br> + One that all thy virtues feeling,<br> + Could exist removed from thee.<br> +</p> + +<p>That in which thine image blooming,<br> + Holds an empire all its own,<br> + Which, though thou to grief art dooming,<br> + Lives, fair maid, in thee alone;<br> +</p> + +<p>Every thought to thee addresses,<br> + Filled by thee with visions bright,<br> + Even 'midst sorrows, pains, distresses,<br> + Thou'rt its comfort, hope, delight.<br> +</p> + +<p>I be faithless! love avowing,<br> + To thee first I bent my knee,<br> + Even with soul thy looks endowing,<br> + First I knew <em>it</em> knowing <em>thee</em>.<br> +</p> + +<p>Yes, my soul to thee returning,<br> + Thine own gift do I restore,<br> + Thou the offering proudly spurning,<br> + I its charm can know no more.<br> +</p> + +<p>Do not bid me, hope resigning,<br> + My fond vows of love to cease,<br> + How can I, in silence pining,<br> + Cruel fair one, mar thy peace?<br> +</p> + +<h3>N O T E.</h3> + +<p>Of the following translation of Derjavin's Ode to God, +universally esteemed as one of the sublimest effusions of the +Russian Muse, I beg leave to say that my aim has been to render it +into English as literally as the genius of our language would +admit, without adding or suppressing a single thought, or +amplifying a single expression, to accomplish which metrically +would of course be impossible.</p> + +<p>If I have succeeded, my readers will be better able to judge +whether this Ode, after having been translated into the Japanese +language, merited the great honour of being suspended, embroidered +with gold, in the temple of Jeddo, than they can be by a perusal of +the highly poetic effort of Dr. Bowring. For, whilst he has adhered +to the structure of versification adopted in the original, and in +some parts has given its sense with remarkable accuracy, in others +he has been less fortunate; and in venturing to change the +Trinitarian faith of Derjavin to suit his own notions of the unity +of the Supreme Being, he has taken a liberty with his author which +cannot but be deemed unwarrantable.</p> + +<p>THE TRANSLATOR.</p> + +<h3>TO GOD.<br> +<br> +BY DERJAVIN.</h3> + +<p>O! Thou, infinite in space,<br> + Existing in the motion of matter,<br> + Eternal amidst the mutations of time,<br> + Without person, in three persons the Divinity!<br> + The single and omnipresent spirit,<br> + To whom there is neither place nor cause,<br> + Whom none could ever comprehend,<br> + Who fillest all things with thyself,<br> + Embracest, animatest, and preservest them,<br> + Thou whom we denominate God!<br> +</p> + +<p>Although a sublime mind might be able<br> + To measure the depths of ocean,<br> + To count the sands, the rays of the planets,<br> + To thee there is neither number nor measure!<br> + Enlightened spirits, although<br> + Proceeding from thy light,<br> + Cannot penetrate thy judgments;<br> + Thought scarce dare lift itself to thee;<br> + It is lost in thy greatness,<br> + Like the past moment in eternity.<br> +</p> + +<p>Thou calledst chaos into existence,<br> + Before time, from the abyss of eternity,<br> + And eternity, existing prior to all ages,<br> + Thou foundedst within thyself.<br> + Constituting thyself of thyself,<br> + By means of thyself shining from thyself,<br> + Thou art the light from which light first flowed;<br> + Creating all things by a single word,<br> + Extending thyself throughout the new creation,<br> + Thou wast, thou art, thou shalt be for ever!<br> +</p> + +<p>Thou unitest within thyself the chain of beings,<br> + Upholdest and animatest it,<br> + Thou connectest the end with the beginning,<br> + And through death bestowest life.<br> + As sparks shoot forth and scatter themselves,<br> + Thus suns are born of thee:<br> + As, in a cold and clear winter's day,<br> + Particles of frost scintillate,<br> + Whirl about, reel, and glisten, <a name="fnr5"></a> <a href="#fn5" +class="fnsuper">1</a><br> + Even so do the stars in the abysses beneath thee!<br> +</p> + +<p>Millions of lighted torches<br> + Fly throughout infinite space,<br> + They execute thy laws,<br> + And shed life-creating rays.<br> + But these fiery luminaries,<br> + Or shining masses of crystal,<br> + Or crowds of boiling golden waves,<br> + Or blazing ether,<br> + Or all the dazzling worlds united--<br> + Compared to thee are like night compared to day.<br> +</p> + +<p>Like a drop of water cast into the ocean<br> + Is this whole firmament compared to thee.<br> + But what is the universe which I behold,<br> + And who am I, in thy presence?<br> + Were I to add to the millions of worlds<br> + Existing in the ocean of air,<br> + A hundred fold as many other worlds--and then<br> + Dare to compare them to thee,<br> + They would scarcely appear an atom,<br> + And I compared to thee--nothing!<br> +</p> + +<p>Nothing! yet thou shinest in me<br> + Through thy great goodness:<br> + In me thou imagest thyself,<br> + As the sun is reflected in a small drop of water.<br> + Nothing! yet I am sensible of my existence,<br> + By an indescribable longing I ascend<br> + Steadfastly to a higher region:<br> + My soul hopes to be even as thou,<br> + It inquires, meditates, reasons;<br> + I am, and doubtless thou must be.<br> +</p> + +<p>THOU ART! the order of nature proclaims it;<br> + My heart declares it to be so,<br> + My mind assures me of it.<br> + Thou art! and I am not, therefore, nothing!<br> + I am a particle of the whole universe,<br> + Placed, as I think, in that important<br> + Middle point of being,<br> + Where thou finishedst mortal creatures,<br> + Where thou began'st heavenly spirits,<br> + And the chain of all beings unitedst by me.<br> +</p> + +<p>I am the bond of worlds existing everywhere;<br> + I am the extreme grade of matter;<br> + I am the centre of living things,<br> + The commencing trait of the Divinity;<br> + My body will resolve itself into ashes,<br> + My mind commands the thunder.<br> + I am a king, a slave, a worm, a god!<br> + But, being thus wonderful,<br> + From whence have I proceeded? This is unknown.<br> + But I could not have existed of myself!<br> +</p> + +<p>I am thy work, Creator!<br> + I am the creature of thy supreme wisdom,<br> + Fountain of life, Giver of blessings,<br> + Soul and monarch of my soul!<br> + It was necessary to thy justice<br> + That my immortal being<br> + Should traverse the abyss of death,<br> + That my spirit should be veiled in perishable matter,<br> + And that through death I should return,<br> + Father! to thy immortality!<br> +</p> + +<p>Inexplicable, incomprehensible Being!<br> + I know that the imaginings<br> + Of my soul are unable<br> + Even to sketch thy shadow!<br> + But, if it be our duty to praise thee,<br> + Then it is impossible for weak mortals<br> + Otherwise to render thee homage<br> + Than, simply, to lift their hearts to thee,<br> + To give way to boundless joy,<br> + And shed tears of gratitude!<br> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="fn5"></a> <a href="#fnr5">[1]</a> The +full beauty of this metaphor can only be felt by those who have +witnessed, in a high northern latitude during intensely cold and +clear weather, the state of the atmosphere which the poet +describes.</p> + +<p> </p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bakchesarian Fountain and Other +Poems, by Alexander Pushkin and other authors + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BAKCHESARIAN FOUNTAIN *** + +This file should be named bakch10h.htm or bakch10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, bakch11h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, bakch10ah.htm + +Produced by David Starner, Robert Connal +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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