Hovhannes Tumanian: Armenian Grief

Translation of Hovhannes Tumanian poem
1903

Armenian grief is a sea,

A fathomless, boundless main.

In that dark expanse drifts my soul,

Mournful, in mortal pain.

Now furiously it rears

And the azure coastline seeks,

Now weary it disappears,

Seeking peace in the deeps.

But neither can it find the bottom,

Nor can it reach the shore...

In the sea of Armenian sorrows

My soul languishes evermore.