Beyond compare the monument I have erected, <br />And to this spirit column well-worn the people's path,-- <br />Its head defiant will out-soar that famous pillar <br />The Emperor Alexander hath! <br /> <br />I shall not vanish wholly,--No! but young forever <br />My spirit will live on, within my lyre will ring, <br />And men within this world shall hold me in remembrance <br />While yet one Singer lives to sing. <br /> <br />My glory shall in future fly through distant Russia, <br />Each race in its own tongue shall name me far and wide, <br />The Slav, the Finn, the Kalmyk, all shall know me-- <br />The Tungoose in his reindeer hide. <br /> <br />Among my people I shall be long loved and cherished, <br />Because their noblest instincts I have e'er inflamed, <br />In evil hours I lit their hearts with fires of freedom, <br />And never for their pleasures blamed. <br /> <br />O Muse, pursue the calling of thy Gods forever! <br />Strive not for the garland, nor look upon the pain-- <br />Unmoved support the voice of scorn or of laudation, <br />And argument with Fools disdain!<br /><br />Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-memorial/
