By a loophole, I sit in my prison, <br />Could see the blue of the heaven from there, <br />I feel sharp pain and a shame at the vision <br />Of heedless birds, freely playing in air. <br /> <br />On my dry lips, I've not any prayers, <br />Nor any songs, that have ever to fly on, <br />But I remember the ancient battles, <br />My heavy sword and my coat of iron. <br /> <br />My stony armor - the cross I'm to bear, <br />My stony helmet compresses my brow, <br />My shield's worn from a sword and a spear, <br />My horse takes roads - I don't now how. <br /> <br />Time is my horse that stays always my own, <br />A helmet's mask-visor - the grate on a hole, <br />The walls are my armor that's made of the stone, <br />My permanent shield is the door's iron fold. <br /> <br />Time! I desire to speed your hooves' rattle! <br />My stony armor is heavy to rise on! <br />Death, when we've come, will help me by the saddle; <br />I will dismount and rise up my visor.<br /><br />Mikhail Lermontov<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-captive-knight-2/
