Yeghishe Charents was born in 1897 in Iran, but from early age he moved with his parents to Gars, where he received his primary and secondary education. In 1914 he joined the Armenian volunteer troops and went to the front with them until they reached Van.
In 1915 he moved to Moscow to continue his education at the university. He became witness to the Communist revolution and was influenced deeply by its ideology. In 1918 he joined the Red Army. In 1919 he returned to Yerevan and for a while worked as a teacher. When Nigol Aghpalian, the Minister of Culture, praised him as a talented poet with a great future, Charents started becoming known in Armenia.
After the Communists took over in Armenia, in 1922 Charents left for Moscow again to continue his education, but then returned and became involved in literary and cultural work. In 1924 he traveled abroad to visit Turkey, France, Italy and Germany.
Charents continued to write prolifically until his death. He published six volumes of poetry and a novel: LYRICAL POEMS, DANTEAN LEGEND (1916), THE FRENZIED MOBS (1918), POEMS (1923), LAND OF NAYIRI (1923)-- a novel, EPIC DAYBREAK (1930), BOOK FOR THE ROAD (1933). Charents also has many translations and unpublished poems.
I LOVE MY SWEET ARMENIA'S...
By Y. Charents
* Translated from Armenian by Shant Norashkharian *
I love my sweet Armenia's word which is filled with the taste of sun,
I love our old lyre's melody from its mournful and weeping strings,
The vivacious fragrance of the blood-like flowers and the roses,
I love as well the graceful and agile dance of Nayirian girls.
I love as well our gloomy sky, our pure waters, luminous lake,
The summer's sun and the winter's sublime wind with a dragon's voice,
Also the black, unwelcoming walls of the huts lost in the dark,
And I love the thousand-year stone of the ancient cities as well.
No matter where I am yet I shall not forget our mournful songs,
Shall not forget our steel-lettered books which now have become prayers,
No matter how sharply they pierce my heart our wounds so soaked with blood,
Even then I love my orphaned and my bloodied, dear Armenia.
For my longing heart there is not, not even one another tale,
There's no brighter forehead than that of Kouchag and Naregatsi,
Pass the whole world, there's no summit as white as that of Ararat,
Like glory road, unreachable, I love as well my Mount Massis.
1920-1921
ODE TO MY MOTHER
By Y. Charents (1897-1937)
* Translated from Armenian by Shant Norashkharian *
I remember your old face, mother so sweet and precious,
Luminous lines and wrinkles, mother so sweet and precious.
There you have sat by the house and the greened tree of berry
Has cast shadow on your face, mother so sweet and precious.
You've sat down sad and silent, remembering those old days,
Which have come and then have passed, mother so sweet and precious.
You remember now your son, who has left so long ago, -
You wonder where he has gone, mother so sweet and precious.
You wonder where is he now, is he alive, is he dead?
And what doors has he beaten, mother so sweet and precious?
And when he was so weary, when of love he was deceived -
On whose lap was he sobbing, mother so sweet and precious?
You're pondering so sadly, the berry tree is rocking
Your sorrow so limitless, mother so sweet and precious.
And tears bitter and salty are now falling one by one
All over your olden hands, mother so sweet and precious...!
1920
TOWARD THE FUTURE
By Y. Charents
* Translated from Armenian by Shant Norashkharian *
My infinite soul is already full
With confusing songs and also noises;
My electric heart is already full
With inflamed currents.
My soul has become a radio station
For the entire world and all of mankind;
And it is so high, my soul's station,
Like Massis so high, and also so firm -
Mighty, terrible!
In these fervent days, wind-driven, confused -
The song of million hearts distant or near
It is now my fate to sing it today;
My multimillion, ten thousands of friends'
Joy of today and their great flight as well -
Today it's my song's turn to cast the fate
Of the coming days.
Therefore this is why
As a gigantic, as an Eiffelian
Enormous tower,
At past and coming centuries' threshold
Mighty, high above,
I am now standing with my entire height
And I am singing.
And my soul is now a radio station,
It is now sending its fiery red song
Far and far away; -
To all of the hearts, who live and exist
In all directions.
My soul is singing, sounding fervently.
I know in front of my song of today -
Facing the red sparks of my soul as well -
Each single soul is a radio station,
Wherever it is!
Every soul which lives, each soul which exists,
And is carrying upon its own wings
The same great concept, the immense concept
Of these fervent days, -
The radiant concept of these fervent days.
Every single soul,
Which is today with its wings of iron
Ringing and rustling -
And is searching for new rest and lulling
In the uproar of million rebel wings...
Do you know, that now
Here -
In my ruined country of Nayiri
And far - far away
Inside red Moscow,
At yellow Tibet,
At San Francisco, enormous London
And at Singapore -
In all locations, in all directions
The world is pregnant with a novel song?
Far away- and near
Inside the mine pits,
At the factories,
In the wide steppes and in the forests -
In all locations, in all directions,
My brothers, thousands, who're lulled with the song
Of iron and of bronze, of the soil and mines!
Who possesses our will of fire today,
Our blood-red power
Our fervent fortune
So universal?
Who has them today...?
It's us who are new, we're tens of thousands!
Like an enormous disc made of iron
The brave will of our thousands of brothers,
So universal -
We have already thrown with immense force
Toward all the winds of the coming days,
Toward - the Future...
1920
THE FRENZIED MOBS
By Y. Charents (1897-1937)
* Translated from Armenian by Shant Norashkharian *
* This masterpiece , (AMPOKHNER@ KHELAKARVATZ) ,was written by Charents when he was only 21 *
I
To all the friends, distant or near, -to all the worlds, to all the suns,
To all the souls which are like fire;
To all those whose souls are burning so fervently,
To all their souls burning with sun;
To all the souls burning alive in this savage obscurity
Of life and death - greetings, greetings...!
II
It was evening, one evening which was fiery red.
The sun, blood-red, was entering into sunset.
Upon the field a blood-stained fog had been spread,
It seemed as if it were poison, pressed from the heart of the red sun.
The sun, blood-red, was entering into sunset
And it was blood, upon the field, it spat poison!
The horizon had a burning red crucible
And it spread a blood-red shine upon the field.
And all the hearts, floating on waves, were now burning
With the evening red shine of sun.
The field, edgeless and borderless, so wide-ranging,
Was fiery red and spreading in front of them.
It seemed as if it was a sea without border or beginning -
It seemed as if it was a sea within the fog of the evening...
III
Under the sun of the evening, burning with the evening fever,
At that old field the frenzied mobs were now fighting.
From the cities and villages, and from the steppes distant or near,
They came again, burning with hope, burning with fire...
Whoever had left the city - abandoned the old fog as well, -
The fog which had turned to smoke-filled cloud over life.
Whoever came from far village - had abandoned the humid soil,
Upon which the obedient life did not give birth to one gold crop.
Whoever had come from the steppes had abandoned the limitless
Horizon's breadth, which for him had become a jail.
Whoever was from far city, where there was fog indefinite -
Brought his heart of tuberculosis, as a red flag.
Whoever came leaving far back the limitless village darkness,
Brought his muscles impregnated with the soil's strength.
Whoever came from the steppes where he lived as slave -
Had brought inside his blue-green eyes the breadth of steppes...
Revolting and getting frenzied, bearing the old life no longer,
Gathering in this edgeless field they had risen to make a fight...!
IV
The evening sun was now setting, burning with its fiery red light. -
And by singing they were fighting, the frenzied mobs. -
The field ahead was spread covered with the redness and the sunlight, -
And in the far, on the roadway the huge city was appearing. -
With a lazy dalliance it spread carelessly in the evening sun,
The old city was glimmering like a mass of thousand colors.
Far, far away, edgeless and wide, the old city was spreading -
It seemed as if it was swimming in the cool fog of the evening.
The gigantic buildings standing high as hanging in the red air,
Gradually they were getting darker, paler and more blurry.
Burning only with distant fire the glass windows
Were shining with the last blood-stained fire of the sun;
They were shining against the sun so fiery red,
The sharp anguish had been inflamed within their hearts...
And pierced against the heart of sky like blood-soaked poles
The enormous blood-stained chimneys were glistening.
No smoke rose up from their gullets, they did not blow up to the sky;
The evening sky did not become hard from their smoke. -
Only the fog of the evening was getting dense gradually -
And the iron chimneys were now disappearing into the fog. -
V
From the city toward the south, looking awesome and gigantic,
The colossal railway station was appearing.
Sometimes the train's sharp whistle was heard from far fog -
As if they were slaughtering there a frenzied beast...
Crying was its sharp, hopeless, and desperate voice,
It was spreading upon the field like news of death without return. -
In front of them the colossal and gigantic station was spread.
And from the knot of the station, all across the wide-ranging field,
Toward the north, toward the south, and to the west and to the east -
The iron lines of the railways were yet stretching to everywhere. -
Like iron veins from the station near the city
Far, far away they were stretching, the iron lines of the railways.
Like iron veins, firmly holding the earth's bosom,
Gradually by getting squeezed furtively they were escaping...
And standing just at the tight knot of the crossroads of the railways -
Was the station, like a question, like colossal, petrified mass.
In the middle of the railways it seemed as if it was tied knot -
And yet without a compromise they were fighting, the frenzied mobs.
As if thrown by an immense hand and docile to will of the world,
They were going fighting, singing, to conquer the railway station. -
VI
They were fighting. A cool evening wind was blowing.
Across from it the city spread, an enemy of thousand years.
Placing its red breasts on the land, as if it were colossal Sphinx,
It had cut the red roadway of the sun-willed mobs. -
And the station, so colossal, in the red fog of the evening,
Sat grandly there in front of it, as a dog which was guarding it.
Sat grandly there in front of it and as slave of its lady's will,
It was guarding the traffic of the widespread lines of the railways.
And there near the lines of iron, toward the north, toward the front,
There were wave-shaped and widespread trenches stretching.
The enemy was hiding there, inside the earth's wave-shaped belly
Digging with its bloody fingers the field that spread across from it.
It had entered in earth's warm breast, as in ambush in the earth's heart,
It was firing so furtively, with its wicked and bloody hands.
They were fighting, while approaching, while approaching gradually.
Heavy fire-arms made of iron blasted as they were exploding.-
As if that fight was just a song, which was tinkling in the sunset;
Behold, there was a bomb that flew exploding loud inside the trench...
VII
They were fighting, and by fighting they moved forward.
And in the fields of the evening death was giggling, spread everywhere.
It was singing, mixing its song with the blasting of the firearms,-
They were moving forward as they were still fighting while being shot.
Everyone's heart was just a song, every fiery glance was a song;
Everyone's heart was now burning, as if it were a red morning.
It seemed the old sun was a song, as it burned with the evening light -
And by singing they were fighting, the frenzied mobs...
VIII
And one of them was singing with a frightful voice, mighty, forceful,
He was singing the praise for his friend who had fought with bravery. -
As like a hawk, his song was now soaring away, far, far away -
And by singing he was fighting with a bright smile and terrible.
He was singing. The old sun, the red crucible was now setting.
And in the fields of the evening - as if his voice was like a bell.
As if a bell ringing so shrill so that the whole world may now know -
With limitless, ardent longing, he was singing while still firing. -
IX
"...From the steppes and from the forests, from the cities distant or near,
We have now brought our hearts again, burning with hope, burning with fire.
There's fighting here, there is death there, and a darkness, indefinite,
Already we have now exposed our hearts as red flags against death.
It is setting, the blood-soaked sun, the old sun of a thousand years;
Burning with blood, this evening world is already smiling to us...
And with joyful hearts we're fighting, we're singing songs in this fighting;
The entire world has placed its chest against the foe of thousand years...
Yet we're fighting courageously, the proud death is smiling to us -
Lots of us, ah, will sacrifice our hearts burning with our longing.-
It is ruthless, this proud march like our red longing -
Keep on firing, keep on firing, my frenzied friends..."!
X
...It was setting, the evening sun, burning with its fiery red light.
However still courageously they were fighting, the frenzied mobs.
Inside their eyes there was red fire, and in their hearts - there was red fire,
With a final and a firm thrust they were fighting with confidence.
Singing madly, and by firing they were moving forward as well -
The enemy now fled away, was terrified and chased away.-
And already it was dark now, the last ray of the sun had set,
When after a fearless attack they conquered the railway station...
XI
It is dark now. The night, so deep, has now fallen.
It is dark now, and dense darkness.
In the railway station where there is not even one light burning,
They together have assembled, the frenzied mobs of thousand names.-
The colossal iron arches did not appear within the night,
They had no light in the station so that the foe may not see them.
They are waiting, fixing their eyes upon the dark, far distances,
Darkness fell down now everywhere, while the station had been taken.-
They are waiting until the light so that they could rest a little
And to come out in the morning to move forward to the city.
With their eyes fixed on dense darkness, their hearts pounding, unrecovered,
They are waiting for the morning, so that they may go on fighting.
A while ago, when soaked with blood, they were fighting still in the field -
It seemed as if the city was so near to the railway station...
They came forward, fighting, singing, and they conquered the great station -
The enemy then fled away and took shelter in the city.
They are waiting until the light so that they may now take some rest -
And to come out in the morning to move forward to the city.
XII
In the darkness of thousand years, in the deep night, so infinite,
They together have assembled there inside the railway station.
Across is the field all covered with the darkness.
There is no sound, there is no wind, it is dark now.
Across is the field so boundless, an edgeless mass in the darkness,
Where suspicion has been sitting, eye-less, light-less, mysterious, dark.
It's been squatting there like a dog, and is guarding the darkness now, -
It's been squatting in the dense fog, as if it were an unseen foe.
Old suspicion is sitting now in the darkness and with dark eyes
It is looking at the station which is standing in front of it.
As if darkness is moving and with the darkness of its eyes now
It is also looking at the blue-green eyes of the frenzied mobs. -
And in anguish without silence, with their earnest and fixed stares,
They are gazing now into the far distances, the frenzied mobs.
With blue-green eyes, deep, sorrowful - they're watching the infinite dark -
And it's growling, the dull uproar there inside that station of night...
XIII
Assembled now across the huge station with a dense army,
They were looking at the dark field with their sun-willed and blue-green eyes.
It was dark and in the darkness, which was opened like an abyss,
Far, far away a sphere burning with a red light was appearing.
Against the eyes veiled with darkness, against the stares so attentive -
In the distance that burning light seemed like a sphere, just a red dot.
Within the night - so red, so red, full of anguish, it was burning,
It was lighted at night so the army would stay ready, awake.
In the boundless distant darkness as if it were a dog's red head -
It was lighted as an alert for the fighting and the crisis.
- That's the city of thousand years, where there's fever and crisis now.
It is hiding like a foe which now is frenzied from its own fear.
And that fire was so fiery red - horrifying and gigantic -
As if it were a blood-colored dot in the brain of a madman.
It is inflamed with hidden hope, burning with the near-death fever -
And they are all still gazing at that red dot, the frenzied mobs...
XIV
Toward the night full of darkness, fixing their eyes on the red dot,
The frenzied mobs are now waiting for the morning.
And in their souls dense with darkness and confident was now burning
That somber dot, as a distant, fiery red ray.
It's pierced sharply into their hearts, as a fiery and a red pole -
It's filling them with poison and fever and with world-ruining dreams...
The old anguish of thousand years is making noise inside their hearts -
It is spreading now fever and agitation in their sure hearts.
A blood-covered wish is shining so brightly in their blue-green eyes -
And the millions of eyes are now spitting poison, blood and poison.
The salty bile of all the years is rising now within their hearts-
And it's burning in their blue-green eyes full of blood and of fury.
With eyes which are covered with blood fixing their gaze on the red dot,
The frenzied mobs are now waiting for the morning.
XV
...Against the night, it is dark night filled with darkness inside their souls,
Which are waiting for the morning with a longing so full of fire.
It is darkness in their great hearts, but inside the boundless darkness -
There are blue-eyed skies and still, edgeless, boundless horizons yet!
And in their blue eyes where the dark night has fallen -
There are thousands of fiery buds, and dawn, morning.
And in their stretched muscles the strength of the humid soil is resting,-
If they wanted they could give suns a new tempo and a new way...
If they wanted they could hurl far suns up toward the sky above;
If they wanted they could bring down suns from the skies...
If they wanted with a brave will, burning with the fire of the world -
What things could they not accomplish, the frenzied mobs...?
XVI
And the dark night is now flowing, it's approaching to the morning.
And behind it is flowing the cold and useless hour of waiting.
There from the field the morning's cool, refreshing wind is now blowing -
And already it is burning with a final light, that red dot.
There the darkness is getting thin, it is slowly getting colored -
An enormous and fiery wing is cracking the dark of the east.
It's blowing from the far distance in the morning's semi-darkness -
A breeze, a breeze, full of perfume, a spring freshness.
The darkness is moving aside and in the far, darkened distance
Already the city appears, a dark and an uncertain mass.
The huge walls of the huge buildings are gradually becoming clear,
Already there the proud iron chimneys also are appearing...
In the inflamed hearts of the mobs rekindles the fiery longing,
In the skies of the blue-green eyes dying fever is yet burning...
With inflamed eyes they are staring at the big mass dense with darkness -
And their hearts are still burning, like a sun-born conflagration...
- They will go now forward so that they may conquer the great city,
And they will pour upon it their bile which comes from a thousand years.
They will destroy and make ruin, in place of it they will spread dust -
That city of a thousand years, they will destroy and make ruin. -
They will burn it, they will madly dance in the fires,
And they will spread red burning fire and sparks in the distant country.-
The rest of the flying ashes they'll burn again,
So that the life of old would not rise like phoenix from the ashes...
The ashes they'll give to the wind so it would take and not bring back -
They will go to the far distance of the suns which are yet unborn...
XVII
As the dawn broke, when at the red-white horizon
The fiery sun was burning red as battle sign, -
When in the East the sun inflamed, burnt with new light -
The frenzied mobs threw themselves out of the station...
Across was the limitless field, where there was fog of sun's color,
And in the fog, in the morning's green rising steam,
Like a giant circus which looked like a spotted, speckled picture,
The stone city was appearing near the road's edge...
Aiming their eyes, far-far away toward the red and burning sun,
In the distant sun-burnt places they were fighting and yet again,
With their dense groups of thousand names, burning with the fire of the sun,
They were going toward the Sun, the frenzied mobs...!
July, 1918
* Translation Copyright 1997 by Shant Norashkharian *
