Liebestod

A poem by Alan Seeger (1888-1916)

I who, conceived beneath another star,

Had been a prince and played with life, instead

Have been its slave, an outcast exiled far

From the fair things my faith has merited.

My ways have been the ways that wanderers tread

And those that make romance of poverty —

Soldier, I shared the soldier’s board and bed,

And Joy has been a thing more oft to me

Whispered by summer wind and summer sea

Than known incarnate in the hours it lies

All warm against our hearts and laughs into our eyes.

I know not if in risking my best days

I shall leave utterly behind me here

This dream that lightened me through lonesome ways

And that no disappointment made less dear;

Sometimes I think that, where the hilltops rear

Their white entrenchments back of tangled wire,

Behind the mist Death only can make clear,

There, like Brunhilde ringed with flaming fire,

Lies what shall ease my heart’s immense desire:

There, where beyond the horror and the pain

Only the brave shall pass, only the strong attain.

Truth or delusion, be it as it may,

Yet think it true, dear friends, for, thinking so,

That thought shall nerve our sinews on the day

When to the last assault our bugles blow:

Reckless of pain and peril we shall go,

Heads high and hearts aflame and bayonets bare,

And we shall brave eternity as though

Eyes looked on us in which we would seem fair —

One waited in whose presence we would wear,

Even as a lover who would be well-seen,

Our manhood faultless and our honor clean.

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Poems in English 

• Владимир Высоцкий – Песня Кэрролла by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – Песня Алисы by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – Песенка про ребёнка-поросёнка by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – Песенка-представление орлёнком Эдом Атаки Гризли by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – В плен, приказ, не сдаваться by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – В младенчестве нас матери пугали by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – В куски разлетелася корона by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – В этом доме большом раньше пьянка была by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – В далёком созвездии Тау Кита by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – В белье плотной вязки by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – Утренняя гимнастика by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – Упрямо я стремлюсь ко дну by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – Ублажаю ли душу романсом by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – У профессиональных игроков by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – У нас вчера с позавчера by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – У Наполеона Ватерлоо есть хотя б by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – У меня было сорок фамилий by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – У Доски, где почётные граждане by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – Тюменская нефть by Владимир Высоцкий
• Владимир Высоцкий – Тот, кто раньше с нею был by Владимир Высоцкий

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