The Aged Crane

ON the bank of the river, in the row of cranes, That one drooped its head, Put its beak under its wing, and with itsaged Dim pupils, awaited Its last black moment. When its comrades wished to depart, It could not join them in their flight. Scarcely could it open its eyes and watch in the air The path of the little flock that went along Calling down to those under the roofs The tidings, the greetings and the tears Entrusted to them by the exile. Ah, the poor bird! In the bleak embrace Of that cold autumnal silence, it is dying. It is vain to dream any more Of a distant spring, of cool currents of air Under strong and soaring wings, Or of passing through cool brooks With naked feet, of dipping its long neck Amongst the green reeds; It is vain to dream any more! The wings of the Armenian crane Are tired of traveling. It was true To its heart-depressing calling; It has transported so many tears! How many young wives have put among its soft feathers Their hearts, ardently beating! How many separated mothers and sons Have loaded its wings with kisses! Now, with a tremor on its dying day, It shakes from its shoulders The vast sorrow of an exiled race. The vows committed to it, the hidden sighs Of a betrothed bride who saw at length Her last rose wither unkissed; A mother’s sad blessing; Loves, desires, longings, It shakes at last from its shoulders. And on the misty river-bank Its weary wings, spread for the last time, Point straight toward The Armenian hills, the half-ruined villages. With the voice of its dying day It curses immigration, And falls, in silence, upon the coarse sand of the river bank. It chooses its grave, And, thrusting its purple beak Under a rock, the dwelling-place of a lizard, Stretching out its curving neck . Among the songs of the waves, With a noble tremor it expires! A serpent there, which had watched that death-agony Silently for a long time with staring pupils, Crawls up from the river-bank, And, to revenge a grudge of olden days, With an evil and swift spring Coils around its dead neck.