THE Scottish ancestry of the major Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov (1814-41) prompted a series of translations for his bicentenary.
Here is one of them, by Tessa Ransford (After Lermontov, edited by Peter France and Robyn Marsack, Carcanet, £12.95).
WORDS MAY BE SPOKEN
Words may be spoken
Commonplace or obscure,
Yet we cannot hear them
Without being deeply stirred.
How their tones express
The frenzy of desire
Misery of separation
And ecstasy of union.
No answer can be found
Amid daily conversation
To such words as arise
Out of flame and light.
Whether in church or battle
Wherever I may be
When I hear the message
I know it straightaway.
I'll cut short my praying
To answer that call
And flee from the fray
Towards it, to hear it.
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