Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Russia: Vol. XX. 1876–79. | | | | Don, the River | | The River Don | | From the Russian |
| | Translated by W. R. S. Ralston
FATHER of ours! famous, quiet Don! | |
| Don Ivanovich, our nourisher! | |
| Great praise of thee is spoken, | |
| Great praise and words of honor, | |
| That thou didst swiftly run in olden days, | 5 |
| Swiftly but all clearly didst thou run. | |
| But now, our nourisher, all troubled dost thou flow, | |
| Troubled unto thy depths art thou, O Don. | |
| Then glorious, quiet Don thus made reply,— | |
| “How otherwise than troubled can I be? | 10 |
| I have sent forth my falcons bright, | |
| My falcons bright, the Don-Kazáks. | |
| Deprived of them my steep banks crumble down, | |
| Deprived of them my shoals are thick with sand.” | | | | |
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