Littell's Living Age/Volume 134/Issue 1733/To the Empress of India

by Apollon Maykov

A poem has not the same political value as a diplomatic
document. But it may possess a deeper significance;
and the following lines by A. Maikoff, printed in the
May number of Katkoff's monthly review, the Russian
Messenger, are worth considering, if only from
the fact that they are the work of a popular Russian
poet, and are published in a popular Russian
periodical.

TO THE EMPRESS OF INDIA.

Say that in thee again the prophet doth arise,
Say, an thou wilt, thou'rt of the gods elect;
But, empress of the east! in native eyes
No sway imperial shall thy claim reflect.
There in the Orient, rooted in the soil,
Live prophecies and very old traditions,
Which round the hearts of men like serpents coil
And nestle in the strangest superstitions.
The Eastern mind has strange prognostic drawn
Of dark dominion chased by northern star,
Which, as the herald of a promised dawn,
Shall signalize the reign of the White Tsar!

Macmillan's Magazine.