Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : $b From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth centuryWiener, Leo
General
Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : $b From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth century
Wiener, Leo
Russia -- Literary collections; Russian literature -- Translations into English
Already has the golden finger of the morning star withdrawn the starry
curtain of night; a horse fleet as the wind, his rider Phœbus in the
full blaze of his glory, issues from the east, his nostrils breathing
sparks of radiant light. Phœbus shakes his fiery head, dwells in
wonder on the glorious work and exclaims: “Few such victories have I
witnessed, long as I have continued to give light to the world, long as
the circle of ages has revolved.”
Like as the serpent rolls itself up, hissing and hiding its sting under
a rock, when the eagle, soaring into those regions where the winds blow
not, above lightnings, snow and tempests, looks down upon the beasts,
the fishes and the reptiles beneath him, thus Khotín trembles before
the eagle of Russia; thus its inhabitants crouch within its walls.
What led your Tartar race, Kalchák,[135] to bend so promptly beneath
the Russian power? to deliver up the keys of your town in token of
submission, evading thus disgrace more deep? The clemency of Anna,
of her who is ever ready to raise the suppliant. Where flows the
Vistula, and where the glorious Rhine, even there her olive-trees have
flourished; there have the proud hearts of her defeated foes yielded up
their lives.
Joyful are the lands which have thrown off the cruel yoke; the burden
the Turks had laid on them is thrown back upon themselves! The
barbarian hands which held them in restraint now wear their chains in
captivity; and the feet are shackled which trampled down the field of
the stranger, and drove away his flocks.
Not thus alone must thou be humbled; not all thy punishment this, O
Turkey! A far greater hast thou merited, for thou didst refuse to let
us live in peace. Still does the rage of your haughty souls forbid you
to bend before Anna? Where would ye hide yourselves from her? Damascus,
Cairo, Aleppo, shall flame! Crete shall be surrounded with her fleets;
Euphrates shall be dyed with your blood.
A sudden and universal change! A dazzling vision passes before my eyes,
and with heaven’s purest beams outshines the brightness of the day! The
voices of heroes strike upon my ear. Anna’s joyous band, in glory clad,
bear up eternity beyond the starry orbs, and Truth with her golden
pen traces her glorious deeds in that book which is not reached by
corruption.
Russia thrives like a young lily under Anna’s care; within China’s
distant walls she is honoured, and every corner of the earth is
filled with her subjects’ glory. Happy art thou, O my country, under
the rule of thy Empress! Bright the laurels thou hast gained by this
triumph. Fear not the ills of war; they fly from the land where Anna is
glorified by her people. Malicious envy may pour forth her poison, she
may gnaw her tongue in rage. Our joy heeds it not.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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