A poem by Alexander Pushkin – Pouchkine, Pooshkin (1799-1837), in English translation
As of senses bereft, at a black shawl I stare,
And my chill heart is tortured with deadly despair.
When dreaming too fondly in credulous youth,
I loved a Greek maiden with passion and truth.
My Greek girl was gentle and loving and fair;
But my joy quickly sank in a day of despair.
Once I feasted gay friends; ere the banquet was o’er
A Jew, the accursed, softly knocked at my door.
“Thou art laughing,” he whispered,”in pleasure’s mad whirl;
But she hath betrayed thee, thy young Grecian girl.”
I cursed him; but gold as a guerdon I gave,
And took as companion my trustiest slave.
My swift charger I mounted; at once we depart,
And the soft voice of pity was stilled in my heart.
The Greek maiden’s dwelling I hardly could mark,
For my limbs they grew faint, and my eyes they grew dark.
I silently entered-alone and amazed;
An Armenian was kissing the girl as I gazed.
I saw not the light; but I seized my good blade;
The betrayer ne’er finished the kiss that betrayed.
On his warm, headless body I trampled, then spurn’d,
And silent and pale to the maiden I turned.
I remember her prayers-in her blood how she strove;
Then perished my Greek girl-then perished my love.
I tore the black shawl from her head as she lay,
Wiped the blood-dripping weapon, and hurried away.
When the mists of the evening rose gloomy, my slave
Threw each corpse in the Danube’s dark fastrolling wave.
Since then no bewildering eyes can delight;
Since then I forbear festive banquets at night.
As of senses bereft, at a black shawl I stare,
And my chill heart is tortured with deadly despair.
A few random poems:
- Омар Хайям – Лучше локон любимой, лаская, схватить
- Владимир Степанов – Хрюшка
- The Tears of Scotland by Tobias Smollett
- The Distress’d Travellers; or, Labour in Vain by William Cowper
- Омар Хайям – День прошел, и о нем позабудь поскорей
- To My Friends poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Такахама Кёси – Кажется мне
- In Memoriam A. H. H.: 105. To-night ungather’d let us leave poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Hyperion poem – John Keats poems
- Юрий Галансков – Шиповник
- Returned To Say by William Stafford
- Song—Behold, my love, how green the groves by Robert Burns
- Eye By Eye by Nijole Miliauskaite
- Though In My Firmament Thou Wilt Not Shine
- Peace by William Butler Yeats
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Напрасные жертвы
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Напоминание
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Наездница
- Владимир Бенедиктов – На пятидесятилетний юбилей Крылова
- Владимир Бенедиктов – На море
- Владимир Бенедиктов – На гулянье
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Н. Ф. Щербине
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Мысль
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Мороз
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Монастыркам
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Молитва
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Могила в мансарде
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Могила
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Мне были дороги мгновенья
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Мелочи жизни
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Маша
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Маленькой Женни
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Люцерн
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Люблю тебя
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Любить
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works

Alexander Pushkin (1799-1937) was a Russian poet, playwright and prose writer, founder of the realistic trend in Russian literature, literary critic and theorist of literature, historian, publicist, journalist; one of the most important cultural figures in Russia in the first third of the 19th century.