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ALEXANDER PUSHKIN
PURE
MEN AND WOMEN TOO
Pure
men and women too, all the world unspotted,
That
they might fortify the heart against life's stress,
Composed such prayers as still comfort us and bless.
But
none has stirred in me such deep emotions
As
that the priest recites at Lententide devotions,
The
words which mark for us that saddest season rise
Most
often to my lips, and in that prayer lies
Support ineffable when I, a sinner, hear it:
"Thou
Lord my life, avert Thou from my spirit
both
idle melancholy and ambitious sting,
That
hidden snake, and joy in foolish gossiping.
But
let me see, O God, my sins, and make confession,
So
that my brother be not dammed by my transgression,
And
quicken Thou in me the breath and being of
Both
fortitude and meekness, chastity and love."
(Yarmolinski,
1964, 86)
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