Lomonosov's poetry
Reflecting on the greatness of God in the midst of the great aurora
During the day, face Hide
The dark night covered the fields.
A dark darkness rises over the mountains
The light faded and left us
And an abyss full of stars appeared
The stars are limitless, the abyss is bottomless
Like grains of sand floating on the waves
Like a tiny spark trapped in a million-year-old block of ice
A small whirlwind dust Just like
Like a feather in a blazing flame
I sank into this abyss
I am at a loss and my thoughts are consumed by all sorts of thoughts.
The wise man says
There are many different worlds out there
There are countless suns burning
There are many nations, and the centuries go by
Before the Universal Glory of God
There the forces of nature are equal
But Nature, thy Rules teeth where It is in
The northern sky is burning
Is something other than the sun about to reign?
Is something other than the frozen sea setting the fires?
Oh, the cold flames cover us!
Oh, the land of midnight has become day!
O you who with swift eyes penetrate the Book of Eternal Laws
A slight indication of the phenomenon
It points to the laws of nature.
Gentlemen,
You who say you know the path of all the planets
Tell me, what is it that so perplexes us?
What is it that shimmers bright rays in the night?
What is it that strikes the heavens with mystical flames?
How can there be lightning without the dark clouds of a thunderstorm?
Will it rush from the earth to the zenith?
Why does frozen steam
Shall we start a fire in the middle of winter?
There, the fog competes with the water.
Or the sunlight
Does it shine because it is refracted by the dense air?
Or are the lush mountain tops burning?
Or the breeze stops blowing on the sea
Do gentle waves surge up into the sky?
Regarding the phenomena occurring around us
Your answers are full of questions
Tell me, how big the world is
What lies beyond the tiny stars?
Do you not know the limits of all things?
Tell me how great God is
1743
Learning nourishes the young... (Excerpt from an ode)
Learning nurtures young people
It gives joy to the old
Color your happy life
If necessary, they will protect you.
When troubles come to the family,
Even a distant foreign land won't be a hindrance
Academic where Useful even in
Among the nations and in the plains
Even in the hustle and bustle of the city, even if you're alone
Sweet in times of ease and in times of labor
I am armed to take revenge on those who envy me...
I am armed to take revenge on the envious
It would do me no harm.
The nastiness of my critics can't hurt me
How can I be angry at such a person?
But I am angry! I rise and search for the spine of the axe.
Already lifted, swung! But what's there? A fly!
What a pity it is to waste our efforts on such a small insect!
Fly and sing, wretched one, for it means me no harm
Early November 1753
[Translated by Sylvia Kakehari]
source
Михаил Ломоносов: Стихи [https://rustih.ru/mixail-lomonosov/] (accessed December 2, 2021)
Михайло Ломоносов: Жизнеописание. Избранные труды. потомков. Стихи и проза о нем/ Под. ред. Г. Е. Павлова, А. С.
