Sergey Esenin
Praise to you, Rus, beloved by me...

Praise to you, Rus, beloved by me —
An Icon embellished by peasant homes.
There’s no horizon for one to see,
Only a blue haze creating a distant dome.

Like the visiting holy seers,
I see the wonders of your space,
But also the dying poplars’ tears,
Reflecting the misery that some face.

The sweet smell of countryside abounds.
In churches people marvel at your mystery.
The meadows ring out dancing sounds,
Sharing with joy your glorious history.

I head along well-trampled paths,
Drawn into endless forests of green,
Welcomed by the sounds of girlish laughs,
Adding music to the flowering trees.

Should the heavenly hosts try to entice
Me to leave Rus and live in Eternity,
I would say “I don’t need paradise,”
I’ll stay in my homeland happily.

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Гой: taken from Old Slavic. With ты used as a greeting; original meaning abundance, peaceful life. So Abundance/health to you, my homeland.

Корогод: Can mean ‘round dance’ (Vasmer’s Etymological Dictionary) but also “a whole row, an order of something, a row of piles” (Dahl’s Dictionary) and so also a fence of some sort. So And there hums from behind the fence in the meadows a merry/cheerful dance.

Сережки: Can mean earrings but also catkins (cylindrical flower clusters, with inconspicuous or no petals, as on birch trees).

Translated by Robert Crick