A Swan Heart
By Marfuga Aitkhoja
Qalam
Due to its educational aspirations, Qalam strives to explain the world - hence, every historical or cultural phenomenon considered here is accompanied by a wealth of additional information. However, in this section, we have decided to do without unnecessary words and familiar comments. Before you are fragments of verses collected from different eras and parts of the world, which seem to speak for themselves and are notably beautiful to us. As one modern lyricist expressed on a similar occasion, if it's without explanations; it's probably to do with something in one's blood.
In spite of the hardships I’ve endured
a swan’s heart has coloured my poems.
When the dawn arrives
and peaks are bathed in light,
life will never be sad again!
A swan’s dream, a pure swan’s heart,
taught me how to bear my grief.
When it is May in the mountains,
like Alatau reaching the skies,
let my passion be reborn,
my innocent hopes blossom!
The swans’ cries resounding across the lakes,
touched the emotions of flowers.
Moved by their proud destinies,
how many people
were startled by fate?
Having been freed from life’s pains,
many dreams have nested
in my soul.
From the blue tops of the mountains,
the sun descends, pensive,
till it sinks beneath the horizon.
Dawn appears, then once again
the flaming sun goes down.
But who has found his dream in it?
The one thing I ask
is to let my verses
be as pure as the swan.
Translated by David Cooke
Marfuga Aitkhoja is a Kazakh poet, translator, and journalist. She was born in 1936 in Kulja, People’s Republic of China, and in 1958, she moved to the USSR. Since 1962, she has published numerous collections of poetry and translated poems from Turkish, Mongolian, Russian, and Arabic authors into Kazakh.