Easter Eve Poem by Yakub Kolas

Above the quiet grey earth extended
The festal night-time hung, suspended;
It was peaceful pleasant weather,
It seemed nature itself could under-
Stand the feast's dignity and wonder,
With people in accord together.
The conifers were quiet, no frisson
Of sound from the pine-wood musician,
It stood in silence, meditating
It seemed, for Easter quietly waiting.
'All terrors have quite disappeared now'
Kastus heard whispered in his ear, now
From joyful thought of the great feast-day,
The beasts feel it, the birds feel Easter,
The fir-trees feel it, the spruce wood, too,
And evil folk have all turned good, too,
All things with God's blest feast are breathing,
No robber now will dare, deceiving,
To crouch with drawn blade by the roadway.
For now the mighty and the lowly
Keep Easter's holy celebration
And in their hearts feel jubilation.
This concord and this joy unflagging
Kastus perceived in all around him,
In his uncle's talk it sounded,
Gossiping with Dad upon the waggon,
And in his brother's questions, chatting,
In woods still voiceless and unspeaking,
Felt it in the woods' measured creaking,
For you could feel the roadway even
Obeys God's will in this great season
And passes on the wondrous tidings
To the wheels so loudly riding.
Out of the woods the road is going
Across the ploughland; wheels are slowing
Through the loose sand scrunching, hissing,
And there it is now, in the distance,
The village church, with lantern beaming,
Lighting wayfarers with its gleaming.

Translated by Vera Rich