Poem: Under the Star of the Illuminator

Thus, I serenely stroll under the star of the Illuminator…
And, like mellow drops of honey, his light drips into my soul…
The star-studded night hums like an immense silver organ…

The white light of the new moon spills onto the snow…

Now, without a sound, stroll the specters of my forebears
Around the majestic Sevan … Sevan is now a blue sea of flames
Beneath bleached arches … Sevan is now a lighthearted dance
Of lissome maidens, meandering, resonant of mystery…

In the distance, summit to summit, white mountains shimmer…
As if this biosphere were a peaceful cathedral of tranquility
Beneath the star of the Illuminator—a holy land of stone-crosses,
Vacant palace in obscurity, waiting for the arrival of its prince…

… Thus, I serenely stroll under the star of the Illuminator…

–––––––––– Zaven Surmelian

Paris, 1924

Translated by Tatul Sonentz

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Tatul Sonentz-Papazian

Tatul Sonentz-Papazian is the former editor of the Armenian Review and director of the ARF and First Republic of Armenia Archives, based in Watertown, Mass. He has been a contributor to the Armenian Weekly for over 50 years. He currently directs the Publications Department of the Armenian Relief Society.

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