Do not beg, and don’t expect
Якуб КоласЯкуб Колас на
Ведах беларускіх
Ведах беларускіх
Translated by Walter May
Do not beg, and don’t expect
Cheerful ballads from my lyre,
For, when I strike up my song,
Sorrow burns more fierce than fire.
I would laugh and joke with you,
And for you some fun would make,
But I look on life around,
And my heart begins to ache.
How unhappy is our lot:
We were given not a thing.
Do not seek the meadow flower,
For to us there came no spring.