Anthology of Modern Slavonic Literature in Prose and Verse/The City Afar
*THE CITY AFAR.
Down yonder, 'mid hills in a shimmering bend
Lo, the city afar.
Pale village and woodland before it extend,
Where tintings of meadow and pasturage blend,
The city gleams faintly afar.
Nor dwelling, nor yard—but in shadows of night,
Something glides through the mist.
As if listless o'er many a goul in its plight,
As if weary o'er many a vision of might,
O'er the city lies dimly the mist.
Live vapours of toiling and passionate cries
Weave a darkening pall.
Dust and smoke and the specks and the shadows that rise,
And numberless hearts with their throbbings and sighs,
Aloft weave a darkening pall.
'Twixt the din of the city's unrest and my gaze
It is spread evermore.
And its load nor the morn nor the noon can upraise,
Gaols, churches and courtyards, meseems, are but haze,—
In the farness they merge evermore.
But sometimes at sunset an arrowy ray
Stabs the mist for a flash.
And amid the night's darkness, then fading away,
The city afar with its dreams of dismay
Is revealed to the gaze for a flash.
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.
| Original: |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929. The longest-living author of this work died in 1937, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 86 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
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| Translation: |
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929. The longest-living author of this work died in 1970, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 53 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
