Sonnets from the Crimea/The Ackerman Steppe

For other English-language translations of this work, see The Ackerman Steppe.
The Ackerman Steppe (1917)
by Adam Mickiewicz, translated by Edna W. Underwood
Adam Mickiewicz1232176The Ackerman Steppe1917Edna W. Underwood

THE ACKERMAN STEPPE

Across sea-meadows measureless I go,
My wagon sinking under grass so tall
The flowery petals in foam on me fall,
And blossom-isles float by I do not know.
No pathway can the deepening twilight show;
I seek the beckoning stars which sailors call,
And watch the clouds. What lies there brightening all?
The Dneister's, the steppe-ocean's evening glow!

The silence! I can hear far flight of cranes
So far the eyes of eagle could not reach
And bees and blossoms speaking each to each;
The serpent slipping adown grassy lanes;
From my far home if word could come to me!
Yet none will come. On, o'er the meadow-sea!