Littell's Living Age/Volume 134/Issue 1733/To the Empress of India

by Apollon Maykov

A poem has not the same political value as a diplomatic
⁠document. But it may possess a deeper significance;
⁠and the following lines by A. Maikoff, printed in the
⁠May number of Katkoff's monthly review, the Russian
⁠Messenger, are worth considering, if only from
⁠the fact that they are the work of a popular Russian
⁠poet, and are published in a popular Russian
⁠periodical.

TO THE EMPRESS OF INDIA.

Say that in thee again the prophet doth arise,
⁠Say, an thou wilt, thou'rt of the gods elect;
But, empress of the east! in native eyes
⁠No sway imperial shall thy claim reflect.
There in the Orient, rooted in the soil,
⁠Live prophecies and very old traditions,
Which round the hearts of men like serpents coil
⁠And nestle in the strangest superstitions.
The Eastern mind has strange prognostic drawn
⁠Of dark dominion chased by northern star,
Which, as the herald of a promised dawn,
⁠Shall signalize the reign of the White Tsar!

Macmillan's Magazine.