Freedom`s Seed

With freedom's seed across the land,
Before the star of morn I passed.
My uncorrupt and guiltless hand
Through subjugated furrows cast
The life-bestowing germ I bore,
A waste of time and nothing more.
A well-intended, futile task...

Pasture away, there, docile nation
That will not rise to honor's call!
What need have sheep of liberation?
A hand will sheer and slit them all.
Their legacy each generation
Will be the lash, the chain and ball.

Translated by A. Z. Foreman

A.S. Pushkin. Freedom`s Seed (“With freedom's seed across the land...”). Translated by A. Z. Foreman // Alexander Pushkin. Collected Works: Parallel Russian Text and English Translation.
© Электронная публикация — РВБ, 2022—2024. Версия 2.1 от 30 ноября 2023 г.