Nikoloz Baratashvili, born on December 4, 1817, was a Georgian poet and one of the first Georgians, who tried to combine his love for Georgia with European Romanticism and to introduce “Europeanism” into Georgian literature.
The son of Ephemia Orbeliani and Meliton Baratashvili, graduated from Tiflis gymnasium for nobility in 1835. The tragic characteristics of Baratashvili's poetry was determined by his traumatic personal life, as well as the tough political situation in Georgia.
The love of his life was Ekaterine Chavchavadze, last ruling princess of the Western Georgian Principality of Mingrelia, who rejected Baratashvili and married David Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia.
Despite his brilliant talent, unfortunately he didn’t leave a large body of work. He died of Malaria when he was only 27, in 1845, in Ganja, Azerbaijan. But still, after years of his death, Baratashvili’s poems were posthumously published and idolized by many generations of Georgian poets.
Merani It runs; it flies; it bears me on; it heeds no trail nor spoor;
A raven black behind me croaks with ominous eyes of doom;
Speed thee on and onward fly with a gallop that knoweth no bound,
Fling to the winds my stormy thoughts in raging darkness found.
Go onward! onward! cleaving through roaring wind and rain
Over many a mount and many a plain, short'ning my days of pain;
Seek not shelter, my flying steed, from scorching skies or storm;
Pity not thy rider sad, by self-immolation worn.
I bid farewell to parents, kin, to friends and sweetheart dear
Whose gentle voice did soothe my hopes to a hot and bitter tear.
Where the night falls, there let it dawn, there let my country be;
Only the heavenly stars above my open heart will see.
The sighs that burn, that rend the heart to stormy waves I hurl;
To thy inspired, wild maddened flight, love's waning passions whirl.
Speed thee on, and onward fly, with a gallop that knoweth no bound,
Fling to the winds my stormy thoughts, in raging darkness found.
In foreign lands thou lay me low, not where my fathers sleep;
Nor shed thou tears nor grieve, my love, nor over my body weep;
Ravens grim will dig my grave and whirlwinds wind a shroud
There, on desert plains where winds will howl in wailings loud.
No lover's tears but dew divine will moist my bed of gloom;
No dirge but vultures' shrieks will sound above my lowly tomb;
Bear me far beyond the bounds of fate, my Merani,
Fate whose slave I never was, and henceforth - never shall be!
By fate repulsed, oh bury me in a dark and lonely grave:
My bloody foe, I fear thee not - thy flashing sword I brave.
Speed thee on and onward fly with a gallop that knoweth no bound,
Fling to the winds my stormy thoughts in raging darkness found.
The yearnings of my restless soul will no in vain have glowed,
For, dashing on, my steel has paved a new untrodden road.
He who follows in our wake, a smoother path will find;
Daring all, his fateful steed shall leave dark fate behind
It runs; it flies; it bears me on; it heeds no trail nor spoor;
A raven black behind me croaks with ominous eyes of doom;
Speed thee on, and onward fly, with a gallop that knoweth no bound,
Fling to the winds my stormy thoughts, in raging darkness found.
1842
Napoleon
Napoleon looked upon France and said:
'What is the result of reign of mine?'
And seeing his glory shed,
A light cast down upon his mind.
'That's enough' - he uttered
'My dream?s fulfilled: the world is bewildered by my name,
France is flourished by my glory
and foes are crushed for wondrous fame and story'
'But my soul cannot rest in my body!
The Fate is playing with my crown,
And I must praise her to the utmost;
The time is mine and I am her only hope!'
'But, what if the Fate turns her back to me,
And crowns with my fame another fellow?
No, I do not believe she can betray me:
She gave me birth and would not sacrifice her Son!
Napoleon cannot tolerate his rivals.
'However powerfully or skillfully a man rules,
I still cannot learn from him, nor he equals me.
The grave itself would be too small for me if I had a peer
The years will pass until we comprehend him!
The Death itself reveals his fame:
The smoldering fire and roar of waves
uncovers his fiery soul and boundless heart!
1838
