In 2019 the Armenian Institute published a new edition of Leon Z Surmelian’s (Լեւոն Զաւէն Սիւրմէլեան) I Ask You, Ladies and Gentlemen, a bestseller in America when it first appeared in 1945. Surmelian continued writing in English and in later years published books on Armenian folktales and the national epic “Daredevils of Sassoun”. Before moving to America, Surmelian wrote poetry in Armenian and published - to great acclaim - a slim volume of collected poems in 1924. He was then barely 19 years old.
My favourite in this collection is a short poem called “A Saying about Planting a Tree” (Ասացուածք ծառ տնկելու առթիւ). I couldn’t find an English translation of this poem, so had a go myself, with input from Susan Pattie, Levon Chilingirian and my daughter Noemi.
Thoughts on Planting a Tree
By Levon Zaven Surmelian
Lord, bless this sapling. Look, I am planting it
In the crumbly and black soil where my ancestors lie;
I, their hulking descendent, possess this land again,
And grow and flourish under the sun, with their names on my lips.
This tree shall stretch open its great arms and soul,
Cradling the undying, sunlit breath of my forebearers;
Lord, let this lone, graceful tree be a prayer,
And let those, who hold their hamlet dear, come and hug its trunk.
The narrative of these cherished grounds, writ in ancient, majuscule script,
Brings a tear to my eye… This ancient, hoary land of mine
Has many dead and glory aplenty, and me as its wild offspring,
With fertile ponderings and swaying dreams.
As a cross for my dead departed, I planted this tree.
By Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian