Alexander Blok
Russia, my life! are we tied to one fate for us?..

Russia, my life! are we tied to one fate for us?
Tsar! yes, Siberia! Ermak I and jail!
Does no repentance, no parting await for us?
To my free soul can your darkness avail?

What do you know? Faith in God were you treasuring?
What do you wait for your singing to say?
Chud has done follies, and Merya, measuring
Marches and roads ev’ry mile of the way.

Boats, yes, and towns upon rivers they hew for you.
— Where are the shrines of the Emperor’s Town?
Hawks and wild swans on the steppes rose and flew for you...
Out of the steppes a black mist settles down.

Over the White Sea and over the Black again,
Black when the nights are and white are the days,
Wildly, dumb faces’ reflections come back again,
Eyes of the Tartars with flames are ablaze.

Gentle and lasting the sky’s red is gleaming then
Night upon night over armies below...
Why do you charm me so, mirage of dreaming, then?
Why do you play with my free spirit so?

Translated by Cecil Maurice Bowra