Deutsch and Yarmolinsky, comps. Modern Russian Poetry. 1921. | | The Angel | By Mikhail Lermontov (18141841) |
| THROUGH the heavens of midnight an angel was sped | |
Who lifted his chant as he fled. | |
The moon and the clouds and the stars leaned to hear | |
The song rising holy and clear. | |
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He sang of the spirits, the sinless, the blest, | 5 |
Who softly in Paradise rest. | |
Of the gardens of God, and of God was his song, | |
Ringing true as a heavenly gong. | |
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He bore a young soul to the dark gates of birth, | |
Toward the travailing, sorrowful earth. | 10 |
And flying, he sang, and the eager soul heard | |
The deathless, the unuttered Word. | |
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And the years in the world could but sadden and tire | |
The soul filled with wondrous desire. | |
And vainly the dull songs of earth would have stilled | 15 |
The song wherewith heaven had thrilled. | | | |
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