«Beyond the town a sterile quarter grew / On swampy and unsteady ground. / Here lived the poets — and each one met / The others with a supercilious smile. In vain upon this dismal swamp / The bright-eyed day arose: / The inmates devoted their time / Only to wine and heavy work. When d...»
«The winter day is cold and snowy, / White is the harbor, hard the ground. / A heavy liner, outward bound, / Is moving carefully and slowly. One yellow solitary lamp / Sways in the wind its ghostly halo, / The outlines of the crane and silo / Are blacker than the sky, and damp. Look how...»
«Farewell, farewell, great unwashed Russia, / All lords and slaves who are our nation, / And you, blue-uniformed oppression, / And you, conformant population. Behind the Caucasus’ tall wall I’ll / Hide from your sultan’s officers, / From their all-seeing eagle eyes / And sensitive...»
«Farewell forever, unwashed Russia! / O land of slaves, of masters cruel! / And you, blue-uniformed oppressors! / And you, meek nation whom they rule! / / Beyond the Caucasus’ high ridges, / I may be safe from your viziers — / far from those eyes — unseen, all-seeing — / and...»