Sonnets from the Crimea/Baktschi Serai by Night

Baktschi Serai by Night (1917)
by Adam Mickiewicz, translated by Edna W. Underwood
Adam Mickiewicz1232188Baktschi Serai by Night1917Edna W. Underwood

BAKTSCHI SERAI BY NIGHT

From out the mosques the pious wend their way;
Muezzin voices tremble through the night;
Within the sky the pallid King of Light
Wraps silvered ermine round him while he may,
And Heaven's harem greets its star array.
One lone white cloud rests in the azure height—
A veiled court lady in some sorrow's plight—
Whom cruel love and day have cast away.

The mosques stand there; and here tall cypress trees;
There—mountains, towering, black as demons frown,
Which Lucifer in rage from God cast down.
Like sword blades lightning flickers over these,
And on an Arab steed the wild Khan rides
Who goes to Baktschi Serai which night hides.