“From the other side of the hill
A stormy wind is blowing.
Would that I knew what my sweetheart is doing!
O my love, dost thou wish now to be mine?”
“Come then—for we may marry some day. But first of all thou must bring
me next Sunday some flowers of Trezilie” (poisonous herb).
“I have a saddle horse in my stable—surely I will mount and ride to get
the flowers. Very hard are they to get, very long is the way to the
forest where they grow—yet shall I ride swiftly and get them for my
love.”
“I went to the forest and found the Zilie between two elm trees. I
dismounted and began to dig. Zuzula flew near and sang: ‘Spare your
pains, young soldier, dig no more. Your sweetheart is fooling you, she
weds another to-day.’
“Then I rode in haste till I reached the courtyard of her home. Her
friends came to meet me, put my horse in the stable, gave me to eat and
drink, invited me to the wedding dance.
“I did not come down to dance and drink. I came down to say two words
only to my sweetheart.... With my right hand I took the hand of the
bride; with my left I took my revolver and shot her.”
So his sweetheart fell between her dorohynki (bridesmaids), as a star
pales between two sunrise clouds.
Some of the poems included in this volume have appeared in _Poet Lore_
(Boston); _Poetry_ (Chicago); _The Craftsman_ (New York); _Everyman_
(Edinburgh); _Canada Monthly_ (London, Ontario); _University Magazine_
(Montreal). To the publishers of these magazines my thanks are due for
permission to reproduce the poems in question. I would like to
acknowledge gratefully the help given me in translation by MM. Paul
Crath, Ivan Petrushevich, and A. Malofie.