PARTISAN LULLABY
THE leaves are whispering and the poplar Is leaning like a sister mild Over the partisan watchfire Where a mother sits and rocks her child.
Close your eyes in slumber deep, Little eagle, softly sleep ; All around you our patrols Ceaselessly their vigils keep. And your father is among them: He's a brave Red Army man. For our home burnt by the fascists, He'll take vengeance when he can. Sleep, my darling, through the skies Darkness has spread long ago, Now I see the moon arise, Now it's time for me to go. For my comrades wait for me, Your own folk, your kith and kin, Wait to trap the cruel foe ; Not the first time will it be That your mother's lain in wait In the midnight hour : I know From our ambush we'll destroy him. We shoot once and we shoot straight. In the morning I'll come back, Gently I shall bend above Your soft nest, your osier cradle, Smiling with a mother's love.
The leaves are whispering and the poplar Is leaning like a sister mild Over the partisan watchfire Where the mother rocks her child.
Translated by V. DE S. Puvro from the Russian of A. KOVALENKOV.
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