"Farewell, Farewell, Unwashed Russia," by Mikhail Lermontov, English translation, (Прощай, немытая Россия, Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов)

Portrait of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, by  Pyotr Zakharov-Chechenets, 1834

This year 2014, we celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of Michail Lermontov (October 15, 1814 – July 27, 1841) "the Poet of the Caucasus:" the great poet and writer: an acclaimed dramatic, romantic figure who, in many ways, followed the footsteps of Pushkin.

    Like his great predecessor poet Aleksandr Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, aged only 26, died in a duel. Fatally, both poets described in their major works mortally duel outcomes, in which their (anti) heroes characters (Onegin and Pechorin) were to come out victorious...

    We present below a famous Lermontov's lyric, "Farewell, Farewell, Unwashed Russia," that was inspired by the poet's exile period in the Caucasus mountains. Following our English translation is the original Russian version (Прощай, немытая Россия.)

Farewell, Farewell, Unwashed Russia

Farewell, unwashed Russia,
Land of slaves, land of lords,
And you, blue uniforms,
And you, folks obedient to them.

Perhaps, beyond the Caucasian ridge
I will hide myself from your pashas,
From their all-seeing eyes,
From their all-hearing ears.

English translation by LiteraryJoint

 

 Original text, in Russian:

Прощай, немытая Россия,
Страна рабов, страна господ,
И вы, мундиры голубые,
И ты, им преданный народ.

Быть может, за стеной Кавказа
Сокроюсь от твоих пашей,
От их всевидящего глаза,
От их всеслышащих ушей.

1840 или 1841