Part 15 (1/2)
CANTO THE FIFTH
The Fete
'Oh, do not dream these fearful dreams, O my Svetlana.'--Joukovski
Canto The Fifth
[Note: Mikhailovskoe, 1825-6]
I
That year the autumn season late Kept lingering on as loath to go, All Nature winter seemed to await, Till January fell no snow-- The third at night. Tattiana wakes Betimes, and sees, when morning breaks, Park, garden, palings, yard below And roofs near morn blanched o'er with snow; Upon the windows tracery, The trees in silvery array, Down in the courtyard magpies gay, And the far mountains daintily O'erspread with Winter's carpet bright, All so distinct, and all so white!
II
Winter! The peasant blithely goes To labour in his sledge forgot, His pony sniffing the fresh snows Just manages a feeble trot Though deep he sinks into the drift; Forth the _kibitka_ gallops swift,(48) Its driver seated on the rim In scarlet sash and sheepskin trim; Yonder the household lad doth run, Placed in a sledge his terrier black, Himself transformed into a hack; To freeze his finger hath begun, He laughs, although it aches from cold, His mother from the door doth scold.
[Note 48: The ”kibitka,” properly speaking, whether on wheels or runners, is a vehicle with a hood not unlike a big cradle.]
III
In scenes like these it may be though, Ye feel but little interest, They are all natural and low, Are not with elegance impressed.
Another bard with art divine Hath pictured in his gorgeous line The first appearance of the snows And all the joys which Winter knows.
He will delight you, I am sure, When he in ardent verse portrays Secret excursions made in sleighs; But compet.i.tion I abjure Either with him or thee in song, Bard of the Finnish maiden young.(49)
[Note 49: The allusions in the foregoing stanza are in the first place to a poem ent.i.tled ”The First Snow,” by Prince Viazemski and secondly to ”Eda,” by Baratynski, a poem descriptive of life in Finland.]
IV
Tattiana, Russian to the core, Herself not knowing well the reason, The Russian winter did adore And the cold beauties of the season: On sunny days the glistening rime, Sledging, the snows, which at the time Of sunset glow with rosy light, The misty evenings ere Twelfth Night.
These evenings as in days of old The Larinas would celebrate, The servants used to congregate And the young ladies fortunes told, And every year distributed Journeys and warriors to wed.
V
Tattiana in traditions old Believed, the people's wisdom weird, In dreams and what the moon foretold And what she from the cards inferred.
Omens inspired her soul with fear, Mysteriously all objects near A hidden meaning could impart, Presentiments oppressed her heart.
Lo! the prim cat upon the stove With one paw strokes her face and purrs, Tattiana certainly infers That guests approach: and when above The new moon's crescent slim she spied, Suddenly to the left hand side,
VI
She trembled and grew deadly pale.
Or a swift meteor, may be, Across the gloom of heaven would sail And disappear in s.p.a.ce; then she Would haste in agitation dire To mutter her concealed desire Ere the bright messenger had set.
When in her walks abroad she met A friar black approaching near,(50) Or a swift hare from mead to mead Had run across her path at speed, Wholly beside herself with fear, Antic.i.p.ating woe she pined, Certain misfortune near opined.
[Note 50: The Russian clergy are divided into two cla.s.ses: the white or secular, which is made up of the ma.s.s of parish priests, and the black who inhabit the monasteries, furnish the high dignitaries of the Church, and const.i.tute that swarm of useless drones for whom Peter the Great felt such a deep repugnance.]
VII
Wherefore? She found a secret joy In horror for itself alone, Thus Nature doth our souls alloy, Thus her perversity hath shown.
Twelfth Night approaches. Merry eves!(51) When thoughtless youth whom nothing grieves, Before whose inexperienced sight Life lies extended, vast and bright, To peer into the future tries.
Old age through spectacles too peers, Although the destined coffin nears, Having lost all in life we prize.