Alexander Pushkin

To the Fountain of the Palace of the Bakchisarai

To the Fountain of the Palace of the Bakchisarai - context Summary

Inspired by Bakhchisarai Visit

Written in 1821 and inspired by Pushkins visit to the Bakhchisarai Palace in Crimea, this short lyric from Southern Poems addresses the palace fountain as a living presence. It blends admiration for the sites sound and beauty with melancholy questions about absent loves and harem figures like Zarema and Mary. The poem frames memory and longing through the fountains ceaseless murmur, turning a place visit into poetic meditation.

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The stream of love, the stream alive, I brought to thee two roses, as a present. I like the ceaseless murmur thy, And lyric tears, still and pleasant. Thy silver dust, that hangs in air, Drops onto me like dew of morning, Oh, go, go, dear flowing, Sing, sing to me thy saga fair. The stream of love, the stream of sadness! And I have asked thy marble's white: I've read the praise to lands of aliens, But Mary was not there implied. The pale star of the harem, dreary! Are you forgotten in a past? Or whether Zarema and Mary Are only happy dreams for us? And only dreamed imagination Had drowned in the empty dark Its flitting visions' pale reflections, The soul fancy's easy mark? Translated by Yevgeny Bonver

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