ILLUSTRATED (9 C O MP ILED A ELL BO J IA N Z B E C . Y A TxcaAmzs ma G an r- KING or ARM ENIA THE R GHT HON W TH . SCOUNT BRY E O M I C . BY I VI , “ A R U RM E : IT S EP S K- S S CONT IB TION ON A NIA IC , FOL ONG , AND E AEVA P E R " M DI L O T Y, BY A RAM RAFFI ’ N E W Y K E P D U T T N - C O M P A N Y R . O O : . 67 P R E F A C E IN preparing this book of Armenian Legends and Poems my principal object was to publish it as a Memorial to an unhappy nation . The book does not claim to represent Armenian poetry adequately . Many gifted and well known authors have been omitted, partly from considerations of space, and partly because of the scope of the work . For instance, I should have liked to include some of the S harakans (rows of gems) of Nerses S hnorhali but the impossibility of reproducing their characteristic forms in another language, and doing them any justice, made me decide not to translate any of them . I have only given a few typical legends and poems , endeavouring, as far as possible, to convey the local colouring by adhering closely to the form, rhythm, and imagery of the originals in my trans lations . I have also largely based the decorative scheme of the illus m n Ar m e trations upon Ancient Ar e ian t as we see it in edia val missals and illuminations . S hould this anthology create an interest in Armenian literature the Armenian Muses have still many treasures in their keeping which cannot be destroyed and another volume could be compiled . In conclusion, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to Miss Alice S tone Blackwell, ' — A - of Boston, U . S . o ne of Armenia s truest friends for allowing me to reprint several of m her renderings of Ar enian poems ; to G . C . Macaulay, M .A ., and the Delegates of the s Oxford University Press, for permi sion to reprint the Tale of Rosiphelee from their ’ ’ on essio Amantz s . edition of Gower s C f to Mr William Watson and Mr . John Lane for per I N T R O D U C T I O N S EVERED for many centuries from Western Europe by the flood of Turkish barbarism which the o descended upon their country in Middle Ages, and subjected for the last tw generations to oppressions and cruelties such as few civilised people have ever had to undergo, the Armenians have been less known to Englishmen and Frenchmen than their remarkable qualities and their romantic history deserve . Few among us have acquired their language, one of the most ancient forms of human speech that possess a literature . S till fewer have studied their art or read their poetry even in translations . There is, therefore, an ample field for a book which shall present to those Englishmen and Frenchmen, whose interest in Armenia has been awakened by the sufferings to whi ch its love of freedom and its loyalty to its Christian faith have exposed it, some account of Armenian art and Armenian poetical literature . Miss Boyajian, the authoress of this book, is the daughter of an Armenian clergyman, whom I knew and respected during the many years when he was British Vice- Consul at Diarbekir on the h a m m Tigris . S e is herself a painter, a member of that group of Armeni n artists so e of who a k have, like Aiv z ovs y and Edgar Chahine, won fame in the world at large, and she is well qualified to describe with knowledge as well as with sympathy the art of her own people . h That art as been, since the nation embraced Christianity in the fourth century of our era, a chiefly ecclesi stical . The finest examples of ancient Armenian architecture are to be seen in Ani m the ruins of , on the border where Russian and Turkish territory eet, a city which was once the seat of one of the native dynasties, while the famous church of the monastery of Etch d in a arsh b d mia z , at V g a a , near Erivan, is, though more modern , a perfect and beautiful existing representative of the old type . Etchmiadz in, standing at the north foot of Mount m Ararat, is the seat of the Katholikos , or ecclesiastical head of the whole Ar enian church . m There was little or no ecclesiastical sculpture, for the Ar eni an church discouraged the use of images, and fresco painting was not much used for the decoration of churches missals, however, and other books of devotion and manuscripts of the Bible were illuminated with hand paintings, and adorned with miniatures ; and much skill and taste were shown in a embroideries . Metal work, especi lly in silver and in copper, has always been a favourite vehicle for artistic design in the Near East and is so still, though like everyt hi ng else it has 1X Armenian Legend s and Po ems suffered from the destruction, in repeated massacres, of many of the most highly skilled artificers . One of the most interesting features in the history of Armenian art is that it displays in its successive stages the various influences to which the country has been subject . Ever since it w became Christian it as a territory fought for by diverse empires of diverse creeds . As in m pri itive times it lay between As syria on the one side and the Hittite power on the other, so after the appearance of Islam it became the frontier on which the East Roman Christian Empire contended with the Muslim Arab and Turkish monarchies . Persian influences on m the East, both before and after Persia had become Moham edan, here met with the Roman influences spreading out from Constantinople . The latter gave the archi tectural style, as we see it in those ecclesiastical buildings to which I have referred, a style developed here with admirable features of its own and one whi ch has held its ground to the present day . The influence of Persia on the other hand was seen in the designs used in embroidery, in carpets, and in metal work . The new school of painters has struck out new lines for itself, but while profiting by whatever it has learnt from Europe, it retains a measure of distinctive national quality . That quality is also visible in Armenian poetry of which this volume gives some interesting specimens . The poetry of a people which has struggled against so many terrible misfortunes has naturally a melancholy strain . But it is also full of an unextinguishable patriotism . Those who have learnt from this book what the Armeni an race has shown itself capable of doing in the fields of art and literature, and who have learnt from history how true it has been a to its Christian faith, and how tenacious of its nation l life, will hope that the time has now at last come when it will be delivered from the load of brutal tyranny that has so long cramped its energies, and allowed to take its place among the free and progressive peoples of the world . It is the only one of the native races of Western Asia that is capable of restoring productive industry and assured prosperity to these now desolated regions that were the earliest homes of civilisation . BRYCE . U H M G 3, B CKING A ATE, J uly 1 91 6 . C O N T E N T S Introduction Reproaches A Trial of Orthodox y ' The Ex ile s Song My Heart i s turned into a Wailing 0 be Night, long Black Eyes Yestermght I walked Abroad Vaha n K n Armema g , i g of H sman a on th H s unt , th t e ill above Liberty . I beheld my Love this Morning The Fo x the and the a , Wolf, Be r Incense The Little Lake Ara and Semiramis Lament over the Heroes fallen in th e Battle of Avarai r The Song of the S tork Ye M ountam Bluebells The S un went down Birthday Song Morning The Founding of Van a a fa n sa I h ve Word I would y . The Song of the Partridge The Lily of Shavarshan Cradle Song The Wind 1 8 howling through the Winter Night ’ The Armenian Poet s Prayer The C hragan Palace The Dream The Sorrows of Armenia Artashes and S ateni k My Death ' The Eagle s Love Concerning the Rose and the Nightingale Armenian Legen ds The Arrival of the Crusaders Like an Ocean is this World The Rock The Crane The Hawk and the Dove Artavas d Charm Verses The Tears of Arax es The Eve of As cension D ay Thy Voice is S weet Chris t an d Abgaru s Arax es came devouringly ’ The Parrot s Song Earth and Sky ' O er the Mountains High he went Complaints A D ay After Without Thee what are Song and Dance to M e The Lake of Van S prin g The Fox The Tale of Rosrphelee The Song of the Vulture Dan ce Song Ballad ' No Bird can reach the Mountain s Cres t The Nightingale of Avarai r Thou art so S weet The Wanderin g Armenian to the S wallow The Chris t- Chi ld The Cas tle of Anoush Happin ess Concerning Death Lo ve One Another Pas qua Armena Io Vidi m a : its E C - S s and a a P Ar eni PI S , Folk ong , Medi ev l oet Chronological Index to Authors L I S T O F I L L U S T R A T I O N S The Vaha n K m ia Birth of g , ing of Ar en Ara and Semiramis Artashes and S ateni k The Lady and the Mins trel The Cas tle of Anoush x u l REPROAC HES BY FRIK (D ied 1 330) G OD i us ss and u O of r ghteo ne tr th , Lo vm all and g to , full of ruth I have some matter for Thi ne ear If Thou Wilt but Thy servan t hear .