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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Lament over the Heroes fallen in the Battle of Avarair, by Karekin Srvanstian

(1840-1892) IF Goghtan’s bards no longer crown Armenia’s heroes with their lays,Let deathless souls from Heaven come down, Our valiant ones to praise ! Ye shining angel hosts, descend : On Ararat’s white ...

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Cradle Song, by Raphael Patkanian

(1830-1892) Mother SWEET slumber now creeps o’er thee slow,Sweet breezes rock thee to and fro :My baby sleeps, so soft and lowWith sweetest songs I’ll sing oror. Baby O Mother dear, thou art unkindMy sleepless eyes so long to bind.Anon I’ll rest, and sleep resigned ;—Release me ...

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Spring, by Hovhannes Hovhannisian

(Born 1869) NONE await thy smiling rays ;Whither comest thou, O Spring ?None are left to sing thy praise—Vain thy coming now, O Spring ! All the world is wrapped in gloom,Earth in blood is weltering :This year brought us blackest doom—Whither comest thou, O Spring ? No rose for the ...

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The Little Lake, by Bedros Tourian

(1852-1872) WHY dost thou lie in hushed surprise, Thou little lonely mere ?Did some fair woman wistfully Gaze in thy mirror clear ? Or are thy waters calm and still Admiring the blue sky,Where shining cloudlets, like thy ...

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Incense, by Zabelle Essayan

(Born 1878) THE incense at the altar slowly burnsSwayed in the silver censer to and fro ;Around the crucifix it coils and turns,The brows of saints it wreathes with misty glow. And tremulous petitions, long drawn out,Beneath the lofty arches faint away ;To weary eyes the candles round ...

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I beheld my Love this Morning, by Sayat Nova

(1712-1795) I BEHELD my love this morning, in the garden paths she strayed,All brocaded was the ground with prints her golden pattens made ;Like the nightingale, I warbled round my rose with wings displayed,And I wept, my reason faltered, while my heart was sore dismayed.Grant, O Lord, that all ...

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Huntsman, that on the Hills above, by Avetik Isahakian

” HUNTSMAN, that on the hills above To hunt the deer hast been,Tell me, I pray thee, if my love— My wild deer thou hast seen ? ” He sought the hills his grief to quell— My darling love, my sun.He ...

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