Grokhochet bitva, bleshchut broni,
Orud'ya mednyye revut,
Begut polka, nesutsa koni,
I reki krasnyye tekut,
Pylayet polden, lyudi bytusa!
Sklonilos sontse, boy sil'ney!
Zakat bledneyet, no derutsa
Vragi vsyo yarostney i zley!
I pala noch na pole brani,
Druzhiny v mrake razoshlis . . .

Vsyo stikhlo, i v nochnom tumane
Stenan'ya k nebu podnyalis.
Togda, ozarena lunoyu,
Na boevom svoyom kone,
Kostey serkaya beliznoyu,
Yavilos smert'. I v tishine,
Vnimaya volpi i molitvy,
Dovol'stva gordovo polna,
Kak polkovodets, mesto bitvy
Krugom ob'yekhala ona.
Na kholm podnyavshis, oglyanulas,
Ostanovilos, ulybnulas . . .
I nad ravninoy boyevoy
Pronyossya golos rokovoy:
Konchena bitva! Ya vsekh pobedila!
Vse predo mnoy vy smirilis, boytsy!
Zhizn vas possorila, ya pomirila!
Druzhno vstavayte na smotr, mertvetsy!
Marshem torzhestvennym mimo proydite,
Voysko moyo ya khochu soschitat'.
V zemlyu potom svoi kosti slozhite,
Sladko ot zhizni v zemle otdykhat'!
Gody nezrimo proydut za godami,
V lyudyakh ischeznet i pamyat' o vas.
Ya ne zabudu! I gromko nad vami
Pir budu pravit' v polunochny chas!
Plyaskoy tyazholoyu zemlyu syruyu
Ya pritopchu, shtoby sen grobovuyu
Kosti pokinut' vovek ne smogli,
Shtob nikogda vam ne vstat' iz zemli!

The battle thunders, the armour flashes,
The bronze cannons roar,
The regiments charge, the horses rush past,
And rivers of red blood flow.
Noon burns fiercely, the people fight on!
When the sun is low, the battle rages still more fiercely!
At sunset the enemies fight on
More furiously and savagely!
Night falls on the battlefield.
In the gloom the legions disperse . . .

All is quiet, and in the dark night
Groans reach up to the sky.
Then, lit by the moonlight,
Astride his steed,
His white bones gleaming in the pale light,
Comes Death. And in the silence
He hears the groans and prayers,
And full of pride and content,
Like a warrior chief, he moves round
The field of battle.
He climbs a hill, gazes about,
Stops and smiles . . .
And over the battlefield
The voice of doom is heard:
The fight is ended! I have conquered all!
All you warriors have surrendered to me!
Life set you against each other, but I joined you in peace!
Now rise up for the roll-call of Death!
March in a solemn file before me,
I have no wish to record my troops.
Later, you may lay your bones in the earth
To sweetly rest from life's hardships!
Year on year will pass unheeded,
Men will have no memory of you at all,
But I'll not forget! Here over your bones
There shall be a noisy feast at midnight!
I shall stamp heavily on the damp earth,
Your bones will never escape
The shades of the grave,
And you shall never again rise out of the earth!