OH, gaily sings the bird! and the wattle-boughs are stirred

And rustled by the scented breath of Spring;

Oh, the dreary wistful longing! Oh, the faces that are thronging!

Oh, the voices that are vaguely whispering!

Oh, tell me, father mine, ere the good ship crossed the brine,

On the gangway one mute handgrip we exchanged,

Do you, past the grave, employ, for your stubborn reckless boy,

Those petitions that in life were ne’er estranged?

Oh, tell me, sister dear—parting word and parting tear

Never passed between us: let me bear the blame—

Are you living, girl, or dead? bitter tears since then I’ve shed

For the lips that lisped with mine a mother’s name.

Oh, tell me, ancient friend, ever ready to defend

In our boyhood, at the base of life’s long hill,

Are you waking yet or sleeping? Have you left this vale of weeping,

Or do you, like your comrade, linger still?

Oh, whisper, buried love, is there rest and peace above?—

There is little hope or comfort here below;

On your sweet face lies the mould, and your bed is strait and cold—

Near the harbour where the sea-tides ebb and flow.

All silent—they are dumb—and the breezes go and come

With an apathy that mocks at man’s distress;

Laugh, scoffer, while you may! I could bow me down and pray

For an answer that might stay my bitterness.

Oh, harshly screams the bird, and the wattle-bloom is stirred;

There’s a sullen weird-like whisper in the bough:

‘Aye, kneel and pray and weep, but HIS BELOVED SLEEP

CAN NEVER BE DISTURBED BY SUCH AS THOU!’

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

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 

• Николай Языков – Песня (Когда умру, смиренно совершите) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Песня (Дороже почестей и злата) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Песня (Всему человечеству) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Песни (Счастлив, кому судьбою дан) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Песни (Мы любим шумные пиры) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Песни (Душа героев и певцов) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Песнь баяна (Люблю смотреть на месяц ясной) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Переезд через приморские Альпы by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – П. В. Киреевскому (Ты крепкий, праведный стоятель) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – П. Н. Шепелеву (Ты мой приятель задушевной) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Элегия (Поденщик, тяжело навьюченный дровами) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Элегия (Ночь безлунная звездами) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Элегия (Мне ль позабыть огонь и живость) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Элегия (Любовь, любовь! веселым днем) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Элегия (Есть много всяких мук – и много я их знаю) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Элегия (День ненастный, темный; тучи) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Элегии (Свободен я: уже не трачу) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Элегии (Скажи: когда) by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Елагиной by Николай Языков
• Николай Языков – Е. Н. Мандрыкиной (В младой груди моей о вас воспоминанья) by Николай Языков

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works