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Georgian poetry translated into English by Lela Jgerenaia

Friday, May 29
I feel like singing and I sing
(a song)
(By Vazha Pshavela)

I feel like singing and I sing,-
I have three wounds on my heart:
thinking about the past troubles me,
There's nothing given in the present
and thoughts of the future
no one has shared with me!
wrapped in mists,
the star barely flickers,
I can't take my eyes off it,
seeing it once.
persisting in watching it
I became culpable.
but in the heart the ulcer grows,
chokes my soul, grieves me,
I don't desire death,
although torture reminds me of death,
and my being that way
reminds me of poor Amirani.
the sword lies next to him, the pooch too
devotedly gnawing iron;
the sword does not come to the hero,
nor is he able to reach it himself,
the gnawed chain is also intact,
he sees the next morning;
torturing fire burns
the master and his pug:
the future's ray of hope dispels
the hero's moans and groans.

Elegy
(By Ilia Chavchavadze)
dim light of a full moon
had fallen upon its native land
and the white stripe of the distant mountains
was being absorbed in the azure space.
from nowhere no voice, from nowhere no call!...
mother to an offspring, would tell me nothing,
and sometimes the torment crying
In the Georgian's sleep moaning was heard!
I was standing alone... and the shade of the mountains
caresses my country's sleep again.
oh, my god! always slumber, slumber,
when will we have earned awakening?!..

I hate you – I love you
(By Vazha Pshavela)
I hate you because, why are you powerless
with strong arm and weeping face
and your fate, fate black fate
why shrouded always in black?
You who condemn the friend and fail to recognize the enemy,
you who conclude a truce with your undoer,
awaiting your fate by lying on your side,
with empty pocket and unlit mind.
Still I love you, onto my wounded dream
you are sewn like a diamond button;
I could never forget you, you're never apart from my heart,
whether I'm awake or asleep.
Poison burns my mouth, confusing my mood,
at the end it still seemed sweet.
Also most likely it's a law of nature;
If you are mother, I belong to you as child!