Dear readers and subscribers, this week I decided to translate a beautiful poem from Alexander Blok called “About prowess, exploits, glory”. This poem expresses his love for his wife as well as the way he is feeling after she betrayed him and left him for another. As usual I added a beautiful painting called “Ipatievsky Monastery on a winter night” by Alexei Kondratyevich Savrasov.
I hope you’ll enjoy this poem and painting as much as I did.
- Short analysis of the poem “About prowess, exploits, glory” by Alexander Blok
- Painting “Ipatievsky Monastery on a winter night” by Alexei Kondratyevich Savrasov
- Translation of the poem “About prowess, exploits, glory” by Alexander Blok in English with English and Russian side by side
Short analysis of the poem “About prowess, exploits, glory” by Alexander Blok
Alexander Blok wrote the poem “About prowess, exploits, glory” in 1908, just after his wife Lyubov Mendeleeva left him. It should be noted that the couple separated and reunited several times, and it was during one of these periods of separation that this poem appeared. His wife was his muse and you can feel his pain at being left for another in each of the poem’s line.
In the first quatrain of the poem, Alexander Blok says that his love for his wife was so strong that for her, he abandoned exploits, fame and prowess and she became his muse. Her portrait which is on his desk “Was shining on the table in front of me” may mean that maybe his love was so strong that he forgot everything when he saw her shinning face in front of him, or maybe he compared his beloved “face in a simple frame” with an icon in which the gold paint reflects light creating the illusion that it is glowing from within, and used this comparison to emphasize the divine essence of his beloved.
Painting “Ipatievsky Monastery on a winter night” by Alexei Kondratyevich Savrasov

Translation of the poem “About prowess, exploits, glory” by Alexander Blok in English with English and Russian side by side
| О доблестях, о подвигах, о славе – Александр Блок | About prowess, exploits, glory by Alexander Blok |
| Translated by Akirill.com 11/06/2023 | |
| О доблестях, о подвигах, о славе | About prowess, exploits, glory |
| Я забывал на горестной земле, | I forgot on the sorrowful land, |
| Когда твое лицо в простой оправе | When your face in a simple frame |
| Передо мной сияло на столе. | Was shining on the table in front of me. |
| Но час настал, и ты ушла из дому. | But the hour came, and you left home. |
| Я бросил в ночь заветное кольцо. | I threw the treasured ring into the night. |
| Читать далее … | Continue reading … |
< < < Anna Akhmatova – J’ai appris a vivre simplement, sagement (Ru/Fr) / I have learned to live simply, wisely (Ru/Eng) / Анна Ахматова – Я научилась просто мудро жить (Рус/Анг.) / (Рус/ Фра.)
L’étrangère (Ru/Fr) / Stranger (Ru/Eng) / Незнакомка (Рус/Анг.) / (Рус/ Фра.) > > >
We put a lot of effort into the quality of the articles and translations, support us with a like and a subscription or sponsor us if you like them. We are also on Facebook and Twitter
- Joyeux Noël! avec le poème Noël d’Alexandre Blok traduit en français
- Merry Christmas! with the poem “Christmas” by Alexander Blok translated in English
- Poèmes et peinture, semaine du 14 décembre 2025
- Poems and painting, Week of December 14, 2025
- Poèmes et peinture, semaine du 7 décembre 2025
- Poems and painting, Week of December 7, 2025
© 2023 Akirill.com – All Rights Reserved






