So long, unwashed Russia,
The land of slaves and overlords,
And you, blue uniforms,
And you, devoted to them folk.
The lines above are my non-literary and more word-by-word translation from my favorite Russian poet. The poetic translations I found were too liberal with added meaning, for the rhyme. When I was about 13, I used to be able to recite long pages from Lermontov's longer poems in original. I still remember some of its beauty - Russian language at its best. He died young in a duel.
Прощай, немытая Россия,
Страна рабов, страна господ,
И вы, мундиры голубые,
И ты, им преданный народ.
Быть может, за стеной Кавказа
Сокроюсь от твоих пашей,
От их всевидящего глаза,
От их всеслышащих ушей.
Михаил Юрьевич Лермонтов
