From the Sonnets of Victory
O the Almighty Judge, O Thou, the High!
I humbly pray Thee: let the righteous win!
And let the holy spear, so light and thin,
Drive out the armored foes and make them fly!
let the triumph of Thy host be nigh!
Let on the hopeless brink a Cherubin
Come down from Heaven in the battle’s din
And make the enemy, defeated, die!
And let Goliath fall to David’s feet,
So that the bright-faced Victory can greet
The saint anointed King that comes to reign!
And even though the war’s end is not seen,
I humbly pray Thee: let the righteous win!
Oh, let the righteous win, I pray again!
З циклу «Сонети Перемоги»
Всевишній, Всемогутній Судіє!
Хай переможуть праведні, благаю!
Важкоозброєну ворожу зграю
Хай прожене тоненьке копіє!
Хай візьме гору воїнство Твоє!
Хай на межі останнього одчаю
У розпал битви зійде ангел з Раю
І ворога дощенту розіб’є!
Хай Ґоліят паде до ніг Давида
І явиться Звитяга ясновида
Богопомазаному королю!
І хоч оцій війні не видно краю —
Хай переможуть праведні, благаю,
Хай переможуть праведні, молю!
Скінчила 26.IV.2020
Olena Brosalina (Olena O’Lear) is a Ukrainian poet, translator, literary critic, and editor, Ph.D. Born in Kyiv in 1976, she is the author of two poetry collections: My Hand Is on the Headboard… (1997) and Pilgrims’ Songs (2006). She works as a translator in Astrolabe Publishing and translates mainly from English. She translated The Hobbit and other works by J. R. R. Tolkien, fairy tales by Beatrix Potter, prose works of Joseph Conrad, William Butler Yeats, and Beowulf. She has been awarded the Hryhorii Kochur (2012) and Maksym Rylskyi (2022) literary prizes and others.
