Legionnaire Notebook of Handwritten PoemsTranscribed and translated
Staburadze also known as Staburags, was an unusually shaped 18-meter (60 foot) high cliff on the bank of the Daugava river which, according to a legend, was a mourning girl that had turned into rock. Water flowing over the edge of the cliff was its tears. The cliff was completely submerged after completion of the Pļaviņas hydro-electric dam in 1965.
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| Staburadze |
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| Kam raudi Tu, ak daiļā staburadze |
| Vai Tavai cietai sirdij vēl kā trūkst |
| Pie Tavām kājām glaužās vilņu krāces |
| Un viļņu vilnis Tevim glaimus teic |
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| Ar zelta stariem saule vaigus glāsta |
| Pie Tavām kājām baltas ievas zied |
| Un naktīs mēness saulei sapņus stāsta |
| Zem vaiņaga Tev lakstīgaka dzied |
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| Met savas skumjas dziļā viļņu dzīlē |
| Tev klintīs kalta cieta cēla sirds |
| Vai arī Tev par jautru liekās dzīve |
| Ka Tavās acīs asaras jau mirdz |
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| Es asaras par dzīvi vairāk mīļu |
| Tās neviļ, neskauž, nedz ar glaimu teic |
| Es asaras kā svētu dārgu ķīlu |
| No siržu dziļumiem Tev varu dot |
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| Staburadze |
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| For whom do You weep, oh lovely Staburadze |
| For what does your hard heart still yearn |
| The waves break huddling at your feet |
| And wave upon wave whispers sweet flatterings |
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| The sun caresses your cheeks with her golden rays |
| The bird-cherries blossom white at your feet |
| At night, the moon tells dreams to the sun |
| Under your flower-crown the nightingale serenades You |
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| Toss your sorrows into the depths of the measureless waves |
| Chiseled in stone is your hard noble heart |
| Does life seem too joyous to you, too |
| Being tears glisten, already, in Your eyes? |
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| I love tears more than life itself |
| They cheat not, envy not, nor do they flatter |
| As a sacred cherished guarantee |
| From the depths of my heart I can offer You my tears |
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