Ode to Liberty

[jpjchris]

Kind ladies and gentlemen,

Allow me to share a beautiful poem which I happened upon for the first time only a few evenings ago.

Do enjoy.

http://poemsintranslation.blogspot.com/2015/07/pushkin-ode-to-liberty-from-russian.html

Ode to Liberty
By Alexander Pushkin
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Click to hear me recite the original Russian

Listless Cytherean princess¹, sing
No more. Begone out of my view! 
But you, great scourge of tsar and king, 
Proud Muse of Freedom, where are you? 
Come rip my laurels off. Bring stones 
And crush this coddled lyre. Let me 
Sing to the world of Liberty 
And shame that scum upon the thrones. 

Reveal to me the noble path 
Where that exalted Gaul² once strode, 
When you in storied Days of Wrath 
Inspired in him a dauntless Ode. 
Now, flighty Fortune's favored knaves, 
Tremble, O Tyrants of the Earth! 
But ye: take heed now, know your worth 
And rise as men, ye fallen slaves! 

I cannot cast my gaze but see 
A body flayed, an ankle chained, 
The useless tears of Slavery, 
The Law perverted and profaned. 
Yea, everywhere iniquitous 
Power in the fog of superstition 
Ascends: Vainglory's fateful passion, 
And Slavery's gruesome genius.  

Heavy on every sovereign head 
There lies a People's misery, 
Save where the mighty Law is wed 
Firmly with holy Liberty, 
Where their hard shield is spread for all, 
Where in a Nation's faithful hand 
Among mere equals in the land 
The sword can equitably fall³

To smite transgression from on high 
With one blow, righteously severe 
In fingers uncorrupted by 
Ravenous avarice or fear. 
O Monarchs, ye are crowned by will 
And law of Man, not Nature's hand. 
Though ye above the people stand, 
Eternal Law stands higher still. 

But woe betide the commonweal 
Where it is blithely slumbering, 
Where Law itself is forced to kneel 
Before the Masses, or the King. 
Here is the Man: witness he bears 
To his forebears’ infamous error 
And in the storm of recent Terror 
Laid down royal neck for theirs. 

King Louis to his death ascends⁴ 
In sight of hushed posterity, 
His crownless, beaten head he bends: 
Blood for the block of perfidy.  
The Law stands mute, the People too. 
And down the criminal axe-blade flies 
And lo! A ghastly purple⁵ lies  
Upon a Gaul enslaved anew. 

You autocratic psychopath,⁶
You and your throne do I despise! 
I watch your doom, your children's death 
With hateful, jubilating eyes. 
Upon your forehead they descry 
The People’s mark of true damnation. 
Stain of the world, shame of creation, 
Reproach on earth to God on high! 

When on the dark Neva the star 
Of midnight makes the water gleam,  
When carefree eyelids near and far  
Are overwhelmed with peaceful dream, 
The poet, roused with intellect, 
Sees the lone tyrant's statue loom 
Grimly asleep amid the gloom, 
The palace now a derelict,⁷ 

And Clio's⁸ awesome call he hears 
Behind those awesome walls of power. 
Vivid before his sight appears 
The foul Caligula's last hour. 
In stars and ribbons he espies 
Assassins drunk with wine and spite 
Approaching, furtive in the night 
With wolfish hearts and brazen eyes. 

And silent stands the faithless guard, 
The drawbridge downed without alarm, 
The gate in dark of night unbarred 
By treason’s mercenary arm. 
O shame! O terror of our time!  
Those Janissary beasts burst in⁹
And slash, the Criminal Sovereign 
Is slaughtered by unholy crime.  

Henceforward, Monarchs, learn ye well:  
No punishment, no accolade, 
No altar and no dungeon cell 
Can be your steadfast barricade. 
The first bowed head must be your own 
Beneath Law's trusty canopy 
Then Peoples' life and liberty 
Forevermore shall guard your throne. 

[Thonys]

sorry i stopped reading at the first line 

but its always good to read to the illiterate sailor

a plus from me +