| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | Russian Peasants | | By Marya Zaturensky |
| | | THEY dance wildly today at the village of Czernoff— | |
| The men and women and little children. | |
| They dance wildly before the great lord’s castle, | |
| Snapping their heels, cracking their fingers and sobbing | |
| In hilarious passionate abandon. | 5 |
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| Wilder and wilder shriek the cymbals and violins, | |
| Wilder and wilder arise the cries of the dancers, | |
| And wilder the songs and the mad laughter. | |
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| Their faces are aglow, their eyes are shining | |
| Radiant with vision and joy and splendor. | 10 |
| Lithe are the bodies of the young women, | |
| Marvelous the grace of the young men, | |
| And strangely beautiful the wild chant of the old men and women. | |
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| They pass in a scarlet maze, singing, laughing, weeping: | |
| Scarlet the embroidered bodices and petticoats, | 15 |
| Scarlet the blouses of the men, | |
| And scarlet and riotous the exhilarating air. | |
| |
| Tomorrow we shall see them reaping, | |
| Backs bowed, and eyes apathetic with labor. | |
| They will speak to you sorrowfully, hopelessly: | 20 |
| “There is no joy in life,” they will say; | |
| “Only with God is our great gladness— | |
| His peace and his light be with you, brother.” | | | | |
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