Child of war - Salomėja Nėris

O child of war, preserve your weapon,

For future children let it stay,

For they will come and ask their question

What was the world like in our day?

For them, born under stars more lucky,

It will be hard to understand

How could the sky have been exploded

As battles raged on sea and land?

How, flowing black with blood, could rivers,

Rock, bridges, bombs had battered down?

They’ll never see it as you who never

Saw sunshine in the world around.

Preserve your weapon, little eagles,

Of many a battle it will tell

Of days ferocious and heroic

For a grandson to remember well.

---

Salomėja Nėris [Salomėja Bačinskaitė-Bučienė] (1904 - 1945) Lithuania

Translated by Dorian Rottenberg

Source: Masterpieces mine & Translations