Konstantin Batyushkov, “Song of Harald the Bold” (1816), on feats of arms and rejected love

We, friends, have flown over stormy seas,
Flown far from our dear homeland!
On land and on sea we fought fiercely;
And sea and land submit to us!
O friends! how the hearts of the bold did seethe,
When, drawing our ships together like a wall,
Like birds we sped in a merry flock
Around the fertile meadows of the Sicilian land!..
Yet the Russian maiden scorns Harald.

O friends! I have not spent my youth idly!
Do you remember the battle with the sons of Drontheim?
Like a whirlwind I rushed before you to meet them
Beneath the stones and the clouds of whistling arrows.
In vain the peoples closed in; in vain with swords
They clattered upon our shields:
Like pale ears of corn beneath a downpour, they fell,
Horseman and foot-soldier; and you, sovereign, too!..
Yet the Russian maiden scorns Harald.

There were but three of us in a light boat,
And the sea heaved, I remember, in mountains;
Black night hung down at noon with thunder,
And Hel yawned in the salty wave.
But the waves lashed in vain, raging:
I bailed them out with my helmet; I worked the oar;
With Harald, O friends, you knew no fear,
And flew into the peaceful harbour with the boat!
Yet the Russian maiden scorns Harald.

Friends, have you seen me on horseback?
Have you watched how I smashed strongholds with my axe,
Flying on a wild steed of the desert
Through ash and blizzard in the flames of conflagration?
Winging my feet with iron,
I outstrip the doe over the ringing ice;
Cleaving the cold water with my hand,
Like a daring swan I go over the sea…
Yet the Russian maiden scorns Harald.

I was born in the peaceful snows of the midnight north,
But early cast aside the gear of the hunt,
The fearsome bow and the skis, and into noisy battles
Swept you, friends, away with me on ships.
Not in vain did we fly far in search of glory
From our dear fatherland over wild seas;
Not in vain did we fight fiercely with swords:
And sea and land submit to us!
Yet the Russian maiden scorns Harald.

Literal translation

The Song of Harald the Bold, Konstantin Nikolayevich Batyushkov, 1816