Cranes
I sometimes think that warriors brave
Who met their death in body fight
Were never buried in a grave
But rose as cranes with plumage white.
.
Since then unto this very day
They pass high overhead and cry.
Is that not why we often gaze
In silence as the cranes go by?
.
In far-off foreign lands I see
The cranes in evening's dying glow
Fly quickly past in company,
As once on horseback they would go.
.
And as they fly far out of reach
I hear them calling someone's name.
Is that not why our Avar speech
Recalls the clamour of a crane?
.
Across the weary sky they rase
Who friend and kinsman used to be,
And in their ranks I see a spase -
Perhaps they're keeping it for mee?
.
One day I'll join the flock of cranes,
With them I shall go winging by,
And you who here on earth remain
Will listen to my strident cry.
*
Translated into English by Peter Tempest