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  • The Eagle’s Love, by Shushanik Kurghinian

    (Born 1876) AN eagle sat upon the fell,—     He sat and sang alone.A pretty maid passed in the dell,     He saw—his heart was won. ” Ah, lovely maid, enchanting maid,     Alas, thou canst not fly !Down in the vale thou soon shalt fade,     And like a floweret die. ” I’d make thee queen, if thou could’st fly,     Of all my mountains…

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  • Concerning the Rose and the Nightingale, by Grigor Akhtamartsi

    (Fifteenth Century) THE Rose was gone. When to the empty tentThe Nightingale returned, his heart was torn.He filled the night with mourning and lament,And wandered through the darkness lone and lorn. ” To thee I speak, O Garden, answer me,Why did’st thou not preserve my precious Rose,Whose perfume breathed of immortality,Whose colour made her queen…

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  • The Arrival of the Crusaders, by Saint Nerses Shnorhali

    (1102-1173) ONCE more God hither moves their course;With countless infantry and horse,As swell the waves towards the strand,Fierce and tempestuous, they land.Like sands that by the ocean lie,Or like the stars that strew the sky,They fill the earth where’er they goAnd whiten it as wool or snow.Their voice is like the northern wind,Driving the storm-cloud…

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  • The Arrival of the Crusaders, by Saint Nerses Shnorhali

    (1102-1173) ONCE more God hither moves their course;With countless infantry and horse,As swell the waves towards the strand,Fierce and tempestuous, they land.Like sands that by the ocean lie,Or like the stars that strew the sky,They fill the earth where’er they goAnd whiten it as wool or snow.Their voice is like the northern wind,Driving the storm-cloud…

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  • The Sun went down, by Avetik Isahakian

    THE sun went down behind the hill,     No light was on the lea,The fowls and birds slept calm and still,     But sleep came not to me. The moon peeped in beneath the eaves,     The Balance rose on high,The fresh night-wind that stirred the leaves     Spoke to the starry sky. Ah, gentle winds and stars of light,     Where is my love…

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  • And now the Young Turks, who had adopted so many of Abdul Hamid’s ideas, also made his Armenian policy their own

    For ten years the Turkish Empire had been undergoing a process of dissolution, and had now reached a state of decrepitude that had left it an easy prey to German diplomacy. In order to understand the situation, we must keep in mind that there was really no orderly, established government in Turkey at that time.…

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  • But even in March, 1914, the Germans had pretty well tightened their hold on Turkey (1918)

    But even in March, 1914, the Germans had pretty well tightened their hold on Turkey. Liman von Sanders, who had arrived in December, had become the predominant influence in the Turkish army. At first Von Sanders’ appointment aroused no particular hostility, for German missions had been called in before to instruct the Turkish army, notably…

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  • The withdrawal of the Allied fleet from the Dardanelles had consequences which the world does not yet completely understand (1918)

    The withdrawal of the Allied fleet from the Dardanelles had consequences which the world does not yet completely understand. The practical effect of the event, as I have said, was to isolate the Turkish Empire from all the world excepting Germany and Austria. England, France, Russia, and Italy, which for a century had held a…

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  • Dance Song

    “I HAVE loved your winsome face,And your never-fading grace.If they give you not to meMay God send them black disgrace !” “Mountain sorrel, fresh with dew,Sweets I send and honey new ;Is a dainty maid like meFit to wed a youth like you ?” “You are arch, my little maid,In four plaits your hair you…

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  • Spring, by Mgrdich Beshigtashlian

    (1829-1868) O LITTLE breeze, how fresh and sweetThou blowest in the morning air !Upon the flowers caressingly,And on the gentle maiden’s hair.But not my country’s breath thou art :Blow elsewhere, come not near my heart ! O little bird among the trees,The sweetness of thy joyful voiceEntrances all the Hours of Love,And makes the listening…

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