A Chechen Death-song
Remarkable for the sheer intensity of the two quatrains and of the final couplet (particularly the last line), and for the reference to the elder brother of the deceased, whose duty it is to avenge his brother's death! Found in Baddeley's The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus (London 1908, pp. 488-489).
The earth will dry on my grave,
Mother, my Mother!
And thou wilt forget me!
And over me rank grasses wave,
Father, my Father!
Nor wilt thou regret me!
When tears cease thy dark eyes to lave,
Sister, dear Sister!
No more will grief fret thee!
But thou, my Brother the Elder, wilt never forget,
With vengeance denied me!
And thou, my Brother the Younger, wilt ever regret
Till thou liest beside me!
Hotly thou camest, oh death-bearing ball that I spurned,
For thou was my Slave!
And thou, black earth, that my battle-steed trampled and churned,
Wilt cover my grave!
Cold art thou, oh Death, yet I was thy Lord and Master!
My body sinks fast to earth; my Soul to Heaven flies faster!
Remarkable for the sheer intensity of the two quatrains and of the final couplet (particularly the last line), and for the reference to the elder brother of the deceased, whose duty it is to avenge his brother's death! Found in Baddeley's The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus (London 1908, pp. 488-489).
The earth will dry on my grave,
Mother, my Mother!
And thou wilt forget me!
And over me rank grasses wave,
Father, my Father!
Nor wilt thou regret me!
When tears cease thy dark eyes to lave,
Sister, dear Sister!
No more will grief fret thee!
But thou, my Brother the Elder, wilt never forget,
With vengeance denied me!
And thou, my Brother the Younger, wilt ever regret
Till thou liest beside me!
Hotly thou camest, oh death-bearing ball that I spurned,
For thou was my Slave!
And thou, black earth, that my battle-steed trampled and churned,
Wilt cover my grave!
Cold art thou, oh Death, yet I was thy Lord and Master!
My body sinks fast to earth; my Soul to Heaven flies faster!
