Liebestod

A poem by Alan Seeger (1888-1916)

I who, conceived beneath another star,

Had been a prince and played with life, instead

Have been its slave, an outcast exiled far

From the fair things my faith has merited.

My ways have been the ways that wanderers tread

And those that make romance of poverty —

Soldier, I shared the soldier’s board and bed,

And Joy has been a thing more oft to me

Whispered by summer wind and summer sea

Than known incarnate in the hours it lies

All warm against our hearts and laughs into our eyes.

I know not if in risking my best days

I shall leave utterly behind me here

This dream that lightened me through lonesome ways

And that no disappointment made less dear;

Sometimes I think that, where the hilltops rear

Their white entrenchments back of tangled wire,

Behind the mist Death only can make clear,

There, like Brunhilde ringed with flaming fire,

Lies what shall ease my heart’s immense desire:

There, where beyond the horror and the pain

Only the brave shall pass, only the strong attain.

Truth or delusion, be it as it may,

Yet think it true, dear friends, for, thinking so,

That thought shall nerve our sinews on the day

When to the last assault our bugles blow:

Reckless of pain and peril we shall go,

Heads high and hearts aflame and bayonets bare,

And we shall brave eternity as though

Eyes looked on us in which we would seem fair —

One waited in whose presence we would wear,

Even as a lover who would be well-seen,

Our manhood faultless and our honor clean.

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Poems in English 

• Михаил Кузмин – В легкой лени by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – В Канопе жизнь привольная by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – В густом лесу мы дождь пережидали by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – В гроте Венерином мы горим by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – Уж не слышен конский топот by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – Увы, любви своей не скрою by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – Утро (Звезды побледнели) by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – Утраченного чародейства by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – Утешение by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – Туманный день пройдет уныло by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – Трое (Нас было трое) by Михаил Кузьмин
• Михаил Кузмин – Три раза я его видел лицом к лицу by Михаил Кузьмин
• Константин Ваншенкин – Городские костры by Поэзия На Русском
• Константин Ваншенкин – Ехал я в штабном автомобиле by Поэзия На Русском
• Константин Батюшков – На смерть И.П. Пнина by Константин Батюшков
• Константин Батюшков – На поэмы Петру Великому by Константин Батюшков
• Константин Батюшков – На книгу под названием «Смесь» by Константин Батюшков
• Константин Батюшков – Мщение by Константин Батюшков
• Константин Батюшков – Мои пенаты by Константин Батюшков
• Константин Батюшков – Мечта by Константин Батюшков

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Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

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