Huntsman, That on the Hills Above

Armenian Legends and Poems [1916] at sacred-texts.com

p. 11

HUNTSMAN, THAT ON THE HILLS ABOVE

BY AVETIS ISAHAKIAN

"HUNTSMAN, that on the hills above
     To hunt the deer hast been,
Tell me, I pray thee, if my love--
     My wild deer thou hast seen?

"He sought the hills his grief to quell--
     My darling love, my sun.
He wandered out upon the fell,
     My flower, my only one."

"Maiden, I saw your lover true,
     All girt with red and green.
Upon his breast a rose tree grew
     Where once your kiss had been."

"Huntsman, I pray, who is the bride
     Of my beloved, my sun?
Who tends him, watching by his side,
     My flower, my only one?"

"Maiden, I saw him with his head
     Upon a stone at rest.
And for his love, a bullet red
     Into his heart was pressed.

"The mountain breeze caressingly
     Played with his jet-black hair,
And blossoms wept unceasingly
     Your flower, your lover there."