De Profundis by Fyodor Tyutchev

When again the earth shall return to chaos,

and all that men have wrought

be hidden beneath the waters –

the waters will again reflect the face of God.

 

by Фёдор Иванович Тютчев (Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev)

(1829)

translated by John Cournos

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Fun Fact: Counted amongst the admirers of Tyutchev‘s works were Dostoevsky and Tolstoy along with Nekrasov and Fet then later Osip Mandelstam who, in a passage approved by Shalamov, believed that a Russian poet should not have copy of Tyutchev in his personal library – he should know all of Tyutchev off by heart.

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