Worlds Apart, the Russian sci-fi/fantasy anthology I’m reading, starts off with two poets’ worth of staggering beauty. I must share. This stuff is too good to keep to myself!

The opening stanza of God by Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin:

O Thou, in universe so boundless,
Alive in planets as they swarm
Within eternal flow, yet timeless
Unseen, you reign in triune form!
Embracing all, Thy single Spirit
Knows no abode, no cause to stir it,
Nor paths that Reason ever trod,
Who fills, incarnate, all that’s living,
Embracing, keeping and fulfilling,
To Whom we give the name of GOD!

Nerdy note: interesting rhyme scheme here of a,b,a,b,c,c,d,e,e,d. Never seen that one before..!

This second selection is from Autumn by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He captures the season (as well as my personal sentiments) in the line, “I bloom anew each time the leaves come whirling down”. Here’s my two favorite stanzas:

The days of waning Autumn almost none admires,
And yet, dear reader, I’ll admit to you I’m drawn
To her calm beauty, to her softly glowing fires;
A slighted child, of whom her family’s not fond,
She lures me to her side. If anyone inquires,
With Autumn’s days alone I feel a joyous bond.
She offers much that’s good; a not vainglorious lover,
I find my fancy really quite enamoured of her.

Enchantment of the eyes! O sweet yet mournful season,
Your splendors as they fade grow dear, and make me glad—
For in her waning days is Nature sumptuous, pleasing,
The forests all in crimson and in gold are clad;
Beneath their shade—the wind-rush, and a freshness breathing,
With coils of swirling haze are now the heavens spread,
A ray of sun is rare, the early frosts come searing,
And other still-faint signs disclose gray winter’s nearing.