Modern Russian Poetry/The Angel

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Written in 1831, first published in 1840.

1562001Modern Russian Poetry — The AngelBabette Deutsch and Avrahm YarmolinskyMikhail Lermontov

THE ANGEL

Through the heavens of midnight an angel was sped
Who lifted his chant as he fled.
The moon and the clouds and the stars leaned to hear
The song rising holy and clear.

He sang of the spirits, the sinless, the blest,
Who softly in Paradise rest.
Of the gardens of God, and of God was his song,
Ringing true as a heavenly gong.

He bore a young soul to the dark gates of birth,
Toward the travailing, sorrowful earth.
And flying, he sang, and the eager soul heard
The deathless, the unuttered Word.

And the years in the world could but sadden and tire
The soul filled with wondrous desire.
And vainly the dull songs of earth would have stilled
The song wherewith heaven had thrilled.

 This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.

Original:

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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Translation:

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.


This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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