The Upas Tree Poem by Dave Bennett

The Upas Tree



Deep in a desert, sick and charred,
On heated soil blown from a distance,
The Upas, like a fearsome guard,
Stands watch, alone in all existence.

Cruel Nature of the thirsting plain
Begat it on a day of fuming
And filled up every leafy vein,
Green branch, and root with poison blooming.

Thick venom oozes through its bark,
By mid-day turning hot and dewy,
Then stiffens as the eve grows dark
Into a resin, clear and gooey.

No bird or tiger dares encroach:
Alone a whirlwind, black and fleeting,
The tree of death tries to approach,
Then sputters, noxiously retreating.

And if a cloud should irrigate
The tree’s thick leaves with precious water,
The poisoned drops just desecrate
The burning sand with deadly fodder.

Yet man sent man out to the tree
With one imperious, glaring motion;
The latter left obediently
And brought at dawn the poison potion

He held aloft the lethal pitch
On sticky branches, dark and withered,
As icy sweat that made him twitch
Ran down his forehead where he dithered

The slave grew weak, and then lay down
Under an arch of alabaster,
And then he died before the crown
Of his unconquerable master.

The tsar then took this tar to coat
The faithful arrows of his quiver,
And sent them off to lands remote,
Defeat and ruin to deliver.

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Translating classical Russian poetry while maintaining the original meaning, rhyme, and meter is my favorite hobby.

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The Upas Tree (Анчар)
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin (1828)

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-translation Dave Bennett
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