There is something in the following that pulls at the heart strings, tugs and twists them tautly. I particularly like the line – “You saved me with your expectation.”

Wait For Me
By Konstantin Simonov

Wait for me and I will return.

Just, wait intently.

Wait when the yellow rains bring you sadness,

Wait when the snows come barreling down,

Wait when the heat swelters,

Wait when those, who were forgotten yesterday, are no longer waited for.

Wait when letters do not arrive from distant places,

Wait when those who wait with you, grow weary of it.

Wait for me and I will return,

To spite all deaths.

Let him who did not wait for me say,

“He lucked out.”

He could not understand how,

In the line of fire,

You saved me with your expectation.

Only you and I will know how I survived.

It is just that you knew how to wait, like no other.

1941

Translated by Andrew Glikin-Gusinsky

Born in Petrograd on November 28, 1915, the poet Konstantin Simonov came from an aristocratic background, but went on to become one of the most popular Soviet poets of his generation. Also, like many of his generation, he saw service during the Second World War. He eventually rose to the rank of colonel as a war correspondent for the Red Army, writing for the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, or Red Star. The following poem, Wait For Me, perhaps his most famous, was clearly influenced by Simonov’s wartime experiences.