2014-01-15

Ar an lá seo, 15 Eanáir

Ar an lá seo, 15 Eanáir, 1891, rugadh Osip Mandelstam (О́сип Эми́льевич Мандельшта́м,), file Rúiseach.

Dán le Cathal Ó Searcaigh is ea Mandelstam ar Leabaidh a Bháis. Is féidir an bundán a léamh sa leabhar Na Saighneáin (Arlen House, 2014):

Mandelstam on his Deathbed


I challenged the mob
that dismissed poetry
as a feckless hobby

I spoke of things
forbidden to be told
in this time of infamy

Stalin, czar of horror,
drew my blood
for exposing his twisted ways

But from my death wounds
words will flow in a spate of truth
to damn him for all eternity.

I challenged the tyrant
that suppressed my writings.
My songs will be sung when he lies dumb in the earth.