Old Question (Старый вопрос, В.Брюсов, 1914г.)

No need for some arrogant words,
No need for irrelevant boasts,
In front of the crowds of foes,
We build up our quiet, strong forces.

No need for illusions and dreams,
No need for good-looking utopias,
But our Fate wants to know:
Who are we in the old Europa?

Are we some occasional guests?
Some horde from Kama, Ob rivers,
Whose breath is engulfed with the rage,
Destroys in irrational fever?

Do we belong to the part of the folk,
Whose name will exist in all ages,
Whose speech will be bright in the songs
In tunes of the ancient Sanscrit rhythms?

Are we those watchmen alive,
Resisiting to pressures of Mongols,
Surviving alone under storms,
In desperate times of the sorrows?

Are we those people to keep
Two sphinx on Neva river shallows?
We brought up our giants to scene:
Like Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky.

It is true, we are Slavs! Do you still
Feel hatred to our nation?
Do you still believe that some facts
Seem legends on history pages?

So now, a sacred alliance,
Are haughty Germans still wanting?
Isn't free Frenchman with us?
Aren't you with us, British followers?

No need for some arrogant words,
No need for majestical praisings,
We show the century face
Our true vivid right of the nation.

No need for chimerical dreams,
No need for illusions and utopias,
We search for reply in the world:
Who are we in the old Europa?