FREEDOM**
Russian Folk Songs with English translations p.19 #14
Bles-sed free-dom, ho-ly free-dom,
Wide we hold our arms to thee!
Long we wai-ted, long the darkness,
Now at last the dawn we see,*
Long we wai-ted, long the darkness,
Now at last the dawn we see.
Art thou fall'n like dew from Heav'n
Or but the dream of bygone years?
Has the mighty Tsar, our father,
Heard at last our bitter tears?
True it is our kindly father
Has beheld our sorrowings
He has looked in pity on us,
His the hand that comfort brings
To the chapel by the wayside,
I will go and kneel in pray'r
Humbly will I offer thanks,
And light a lowly candle there.
*second couplet repeats as third for each verse.
**relates to the freeing of the serfs in 1801