Batuschka

    Beside the steel-blue Neva set，

    I faintly catch， from time to time，

    The sweet， aerial midnight chime——

    "God save the Tsar！"

    Above the ravelins and the moats

    Of the white citadel³ it floats；

    And men in dungeons⁴ far beneath

    Listen， and pray， and gnash their teeth——

    "God save the Tsar！"

    The soft reiterations sweep

    Across the horror of their sleep，

    a term of endearment⁵ applied⁶

    to the Tsar in Russian folk-song.

    As if some daemon in his glee

    Were mocking at their misery——

    "God save the Tsar！"

    In his Red Palace over there，

    Wakeful， he needs must hear the prayer.

    How can it drown the broken cries

    Wrung⁷ from his children's agonies？——

    "God save the Tsar！"

    Father they called him from of old——

    Batuschka！ . . . How his heart is cold！

    Wait till a million scourged⁸ men

    Rise in their awful might， and then——

    God save the Tsar！