To Marko Vovchok (For Remembrance, January 24, 1859)
Translated by C. H. Andrusyshen and Watson Kirkconnell
Not long ago, beyond the Ural River
I wandered restlessly, entreating God
Not to allow our justice to expire
Nor let our language die. My prayer was heard:
The Lord has sent us you, a gentle prophet
And a revealer of the insatiable
Fierce souls of cruel men. My light you are,
My holy star! And in you I espy
A glorious evidence of youthful force!
Shine on upon me then, warm and restore
My lacerated and impoverished heart,
Naked and famished! And I shall revive
And shall call forth my liberated verse
To freedom from the coffin where it lies;
And all my liberated poesy,
My love, our prophet, and my darling daughter,
I shall proclaim in spirit as your own!
1859, St. Petersburg