Classic and Contemporary Poetry
RUSSIA, by EDNA DEAN PROCTOR Poet's Biography First Line: Where is the dauntless spirit Last Line: And the despot's rule shall die. Alternate Author Name(s): Dean Subject(s): Russia; Tyranny & Tyrants; Soviet Union; Russians | ||||||||
WHERE is the dauntless spirit Of the glorious Slavs of old? The swift resolve, the swifter hand, The force no king controlled? O for one peal of the Veché bell! One hour of the potent surge and swell When they hailed with scorn a recreant chief: 'Prince! we salute thee!' and he fell From his high estate, at their bidding bold, As falls to earth a light-hung leaf When the north wind roars adown the wold! O for the Cossacks' burning zeal, On the boundless plain, by the flowing river, When all for freedom they defied, And with their latest heart-beat cried, 'May the Russian Land rejoice forever!' What! shall a hundred millions Be dumb at the word of one? The light of their day be darkened While above them shines the sun? Shall the flower of the Russian people, The tender, lofty souls, Through exile, torture, madness, But swell the martyrs' rolls? Rise in your ancient grandeur, O race of love and fire, And flame till ice and rock shall melt In the blast of your holy ire! Till the very stars shall fight for you, And all the winds that blow Shall swell your cry for Liberty, Shall chant your speechless woe! Let the sword rest in its scabbard; Your wrongs shall be the blade To cleave the bonds that have bound you, And win the world to aid. In the might of Slavic manhood, In the power of God on high, Claim and defend your birthright! And the despot's rule shall die. | 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 COLUMBUS DYING [MAY 20, 1506] by EDNA DEAN PROCTOR SA-CA-GA-WE-A; THE INDIAN GIRL WHO GUIDED LEWIS AND CLARK by EDNA DEAN PROCTOR |
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