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| Silences: My Mother's Will to Survive by Alice Tashjian
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Mother's Favorite Songs and Poems The Wandering Armenian To The Swallow by C.A . Dodochian Translated by Alice Stone Blackwell Mother had copied this poem in a small notebook. She often read it to me, both in Armenian and English. O swallow, gentle swallow, Thou lovely bird of spring! Say, whither art thou flying So swift on gleaming wing? Fly to my birthplace, Ashdarag, The spot I love the best; Beneath my father's roof tree, O swallow, build thy nest. There dwells afar my father, A mournful man and grey, Who for his only son's return Waits vainly, day by day. If thou shouldst chance to see him, Greet him with love from me; Bid him to sit down and mourn with tears His son's sad destiny. In poverty and loneliness, Tell him my days are passed: My life is only half a life, My tears are falling fast. To me, amid bright daylight, The sun is dark at noon; To my wet eyes at midnight Sleep comes not late or soon. Tell him that, like a beauteous flower Smit by a cruel doom, Uprooted from my native soil, I wither ere my bloom. Fly on swift wing, dear swallow, Across the quickening earth, And seek in fair Armenia The village of my birth! CILICIA by Nahabed Roosinian The transliteration of Frances' favorite Armenian poem was prepared for the author by Alice Haig in California, 1981. Pronunciation notes and the English translation follow. GILIGIA Yerp vor patsvin t'rnern hooso Yev mer yergren pakh da ts'mer, Ch'knafh yergirn mer Armeno Yerp payleh yur kaghtsrig orer, Yerpvo dsarern haknin derev, Tsangam desnel zim Giligya Ashkharn vor inds yedoor arev. Desi tashder'n Suryo Lyarn Lipanan yev yur mayrer, Desi zergir'n Idalyo, Venedig yev yur gondolner, G'ghzi n'man chik mer Gibrya, Yev voch meg vayr eh artarev, Keghetsig kan zim Giligya Ashkharn vor inds yedoor arev. Hasag mu ga mer genats mech, Oor amenayn ights gavardi; Hasag mu oor hokin ee dench, Hishadagats yur garodi; Horzham k'narn im ts'rdana, Sirrooyn dalov verchin parev, Yertam ninchel him Giligya, Ashkhar vor inds yedoor arev. CILICIA English translation When the doors of hope are opened wide And winter departs from our land, Our beautiful land of Armenia, When its balmy days shimmer and shine When the swallow returns to its nest, When all the trees put on their leaves, I long to see my Cilicia, The world that gave me life. I have seen the plains of Syria, The mountains of Lebanon and its cedars, I have seen the land of Italy, Venice and its gondolas, There is no island like our Cyprus, And truly no place is As beautiful as my Cilicia, The world that gave me life. There is an age in our lives, When all desires cease; An age when the spirit yearning Longs for its memories; When my harp becomes cold, Giving its last greeting to love, May I repose in my Cilicia, The world that gave me life. ~~~~~~~~ Pronunciation note for transliteration: a is pronounced as in far. |
