Armenian Poems/The Poet

by Semyon Nadson

LET your song boil with fire of ardent wrath,
 And make the soul with unfeigned sorrow ache;
Echo of noble wishes let it be.
 And sacred patriotism let it wake,

Let every note call on us to advance;
 Breathe hope to those oppressed by conflicts dread;
With immortality the fallen wreathe,
 And shame the man who like a dastard fled.

Yea, let us wrestle for the light, the truth,
 Which with untruth and darkness wage their fray!
Then, bowing reverently before your face,
 “You are a poet!” we with joy will say.

Let your song ring as rings the gurgling brook
 That glides with silvery eddies mile on mile;
Let hopes and wishes bubble there like springs,
 With sounds of power, and with a vivid smile.

Make us, while we to tender voices list,
 Forget ourselves and soar to worlds above,
Where bitter tears of hardship are not shed,
 Where rest is found, and beauty glows with love.

Make us be glad and cast off grief and care,
 And live in dreams of childhood far away;
Then we shall bless the work that you have wrought;
 “You are a poet!” we with joy shall say.