New Spring

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New Spring (1917)
by Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, translated by Alice Stone Blackwell
Hovhannes Hovhannisyan4453773New Spring1917Alice Stone Blackwell

WHERE art thou coming, Springtime sweet?
Thou com’st in vain, O Spring!
No one is left to wait for thee,
No one thy praise to sing.

Deep darkness has enwrapped the world;
To mount and valley cling
Red stains of blood; this year brought woe.
Where art thou coming, Spring?

The nightingale may sing to thee;
Who else, where all are slain,
Is left to smile? What heart can stir?
O Spring, thou com’st in vain!

The nightingale has come, but found
No rose with silken leaf.
Here is the flower-bed, but no flower.
Who else is free from grief?

Although thou hast brought back the birds,
How shall they find their nests?
No spot in all our fatherland
Unspoiled, unruined rests.

The minstrel’s mouth is closed to-day;
No flutes or viols ring;
His heart is burning without fire.
Where art thou coming, Spring?

No one is left to praise thee now
On mountain or on plain;
No one is left to wait for thee;
O Spring, thou com’st in vain!

 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 1929, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 94 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

This work is in the public domain in Russia (Article 1281 of the Russian Civil Code; Article 6 of Federal Law 231-FZ from December 18, 2006) because:

  • it was published anonymously or under a pseudonym before January 1, 1943 and the name of the author did not become known during 50 years after publication (before January 1, 1993), or
  • it was published anonymously or under a pseudonym after January 1, 1943, and the name of the author did not become known during 70 years after publication (as of 2024, this applies to works published before January 1, 1954), or
  • the work is non-amateur cinema or television film (or shots or fragments from it), which was first shown between January 1, 1929 and January 1, 1954 (over 70 years ago), or
  • the creator died over 74 years ago (before January 1, 1950), or
  • the creator died over 70 years ago (before January 1, 1954) and did not fight in or work during the Great Patriotic War (June 22, 1941–May 9, 1945).

If the author was subjected to repression and rehabilitated posthumously, countdown of copyright protection begins not from the death date, but from the rehabilitation date. If the work was first published posthumously, the copyright term is counted from the date of that first publication, unless the author was later rehabilitated, in which case it runs again from that later rehabilitation date.


This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Russia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Russia having joined the Berne Convention in 1995, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.

The critical dates for copyright in the United States are January 1, 1943 for anonymous works; January 1, 1922 if the creator fought in the Great Patriotic War; January 1, 1926 otherwise.


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

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 1950, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 73 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