Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE DNIEPER, by ? JAROSLATEZ First Line: When the tired sun turneth sleeper Last Line: On other heads than mine! Subject(s): Dnieper River, Russia; Russia; Dnept River, Russia; Soviet Union; Russians | ||||||||
WHEN the tired sun turneth sleeper, But ere the moon hath yet awoken, I love, O, how I love, to roam By the grand resounding Dnieper, Where'er its billows may have broken Into the hoarest foam. As on Jordan's banks the leper Oft left of old his ghastly ailment, So I, on thy tempestuous shore, O thou grand resounding Dnieper, Feel nightly as though no assailment Of woe could wound me more! Up those cliffs which ever steeper Through twilight loom I often clamber, To see thy black waves rush and roll, O mine own, my glorious Dnieper, And feel the sunset's gold and amber Deep-dye my thoughts and soul! Scale these heights, thou poor weak weeper, Thou who, alas! art wont to diet Upon thy bitter heart for food, And gaze down upon the Dnieper! The sight will change to dreamy quiet Thy dark and troubled mood! Come, too, thou who seekest deeper Emotions from the scenery round thee; And, though thy wanderings rivalled Cain's, Thou shalt feel, anigh the Dnieper, As though some spell-word had unbound thee From Time's ten thousand chains! Thou hast more than wert thou reaper Of all the gems and golden treasure Sown and long-buried in the deeps Even of this vast cryptful Dnieper. Wealth for thy soul beyond all measure Its boiling surface keeps! Richer joys there be -- yet cheaper -- Than those which slay in palaced city. Take all thou wilt, great world, for thine, -- Give me freedom and the Dnieper, And Pride may wreak its wrath or pity On other heads than mine! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OXOTA: A SHORT RUSSIAN NOVEL: CHAPTER 259 by LYN HEJINIAN A FOREIGN COUNTRY by JOSEPHINE MILES THE DIAMOND PERSONA by NORMAN DUBIE IN MEMORIAM: 1933 (7. RUSSIA: ANNO 1905) by CHARLES REZNIKOFF TAKE A LETTER TO DMITRI SHOSTAKOVITCH by CARL SANDBURG READING THE RUSSIANS by RUTH STONE THE SOVIET CIRCUS VISITS HAVANA, 1969 by VIRGIL SUAREZ A PROBLEM IN AESTHETICS by KAREN SWENSON THE LAST MAN by THOMAS CAMPBELL |
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