| Deutsch and Yarmolinsky, comps. Modern Russian Poetry. 1921. | | | | Swallows | | By Afanasy Shenshin-Foeth (1820–1892) |
| | | CALM Nature’s idle spy, I follow | |
| In joy her pathways; free and fond, | |
| I watch the arrow-winged swift swallow | |
| Who curves above the dusking pond. | |
| |
| It dashes forward, lightly skimming | 5 |
| The glassy surface, half in fear | |
| Of alien clutching waters—dimming | |
| The lightning wings before they veer. | |
| |
| And once again the same quick daring, | |
| And once again the same dark stream…. | 10 |
| Is not this flight our human faring? | |
| Is not this urge our human dream? | |
| |
| Thus I, frail vessel, am forbidden | |
| To take the foreign road, and dip | |
| To scoop a drop; the ways are hidden | 15 |
| Of alien streams I may not sip. | | | | |
|
|
