?????? ???? ? ? ????????,
?????? ???? ? ? ??????;
?????? ?????? ? ????????, ????? ? ??????.
???? ?????? ??????
????? ?????? ???????,
??? ??????? ????????
???? ????? ????????;
???? ?????? ??????
????? ? ???? ???????,
? ????? ?????? ? ??????
?? ?? ?????? ??????.
???? ? ??????? ??????,
? ???????? ?? ?? ???
??? ?????, ??? ??????
???? ?????? ??????,
???? ????? ???????,
???? ????? ??????,
???? ?????? ? ??????
?????? ????? ???????.
There is heroism in battle,
there is valour in combat,
but the highest achievement lies in patience,
love and prayer.
If your heart is sickened
by the evil of man,
or if you are under constraint
as if bound in chains of steel,
if grief holds
you in Its grasp:
with faith that is hearty and bold
strive for heroic achievement!
Heroism has wings
and on these you will be borne up
easily, effortlessly,
above the gloomy places of the earth,
above the roof of the dark prison,
above blind malice,
above the yells and clamor
of the arrogant rabble.
—Aleksandr Stepanovich Khomyakov, ?????? (ca. 1860) in ?????? ??????i? ???????i?, vol. i (1900).
Listen to a performance of Petr Il’yich Tchaikovsky’s setting of Khomyakov’s poem performed by Dmitri Hvorostovsky, with Oleg Boshniakovich at the piano:
