Reply to Pushkin’s Letter by Alexander Odoyevsky

Swift to our ears there came the sound
Of fiery and prophetic strains.
Our hands reached for our swords, but found
Instead the iron of prison chains.

Rest easy, bard; for know that we,
Though locked behind these dungeon bars,
In secret laugh at all the tsars,
Proud of our chains, our destiny.

Our grievous toil is not in vain,
The flame shall blaze up from the spark;
Our people, no more in the dark,
Shall join the cause in freedom’s name.

Swords out of shackles we shall beat,
Rekindle the flame of liberty.
Dismayed, the tsars shall face defeat,
The people triumph joyfully.

(1827)
Translated by Alex Miller. Soviet Literature Monthly, No 12 (333), 1975.