05.10.2015 /

Poets of Kharkiv – Vladislav Valentinovich Ellis

On April 27, 1913, in Elisavetgrad, Kherson Governorate, Ellis Vladislav Valentinovich was born.

However, his fate is closely tied to our city. After all, he grew up and went to school in Kharkiv. In 1936, Ellis graduated from the Kharkiv Institute of Civil Engineering with a degree in civil engineering. From 1936 to 1941, he worked as an engineer at the “Yuzhshakhtproekt” research institute. He first published his poems in Kharkiv in 1926. Ellis’s father and brother were executed during Stalin’s terror in the 1930s.

In 1941, he was drafted into the army and was taken prisoner by the Germans. From 1943 to 1945, he worked in Germany as a licensed engineer for the Reich Railway Construction Directorate (Reichs Bahnbaudirektion). He avoided forced repatriation. In 1947, he left Germany with his wife, Evdokia Grigorievna, and moved to Belgium, where he worked in coal mines.
In 1956, the Ellis couple immigrated to the United States. They settled in California, where Ellis continued his education and earned a degree in civil engineering. He obtained professional engineering licenses in both California and Florida. He participated in the construction of spaceports, airfields, subways, and other projects. He is the author of the poetry collection *Selected Works* (1968). His work has been published in the anthologies *Sodruzhestvo*, *Berega*, and *Returning to Russia Through Poetry*.

These days, very few people remember his name. That’s why we invite you to get to know his poetry, even just a little.

12118959_1629224387294899_6137748648926758233_n

***
BELIEVE ME, MY FRIEND

Lie about how you charged toward the last stronghold
in battle, defying fear.
I won’t ask you for proof
of the medals you’ve earned.
How you mowed down a swarm of fighter planes,
how you loved that nurse in the infirmary.
Lie, my friend, I understand you;
you’ll finish, and I’ll lie too.
With this swashbuckling, foolish drinking song,
we won’t ease the pain of the past;
we were all heroes once,
though, truth be told, less so than we claim.
Lie, my friend, and in the wound of your soul,
With a bottle, the bitterness will subside.
If the future lies in a black fog,
Then paint the past in rosy hues!!!

***
LONELINESS

I cannot soothe the scars in my soul with warmth,
Nor can I dispel my sadness with a cheerful song.

Have you ever had to stand alone at a crossroads In the wind and cold?
Deep down, I’m unlike the people here,
And that’s why I find no peace.
A passerby didn’t step on my shadow,
But walked around it, as if it were a wet spot.
I stand frozen on the crowded sidewalk,
My thoughts far removed from those passing by.
It’s worse than the beds in solitary confinement,
When you’ve been alone in the crowd for years.
We’ve strayed onto the wrong paths, down crooked roads.
A fortune-teller won’t restore my faith in happiness.
It’s only good that my own thoughts
haven’t been swept away by someone else’s whirlpool.

****
MEETING

I met you over a beer,
In an old Bavarian courtyard.
You spoke so beautifully
To me about the Motherland and the Tsar.
To you, he is the White Angel,
And you’d move mountains for him.
Wrangel led you into battle So
that Nicholas II might live.
Yes, much has been experienced in life,
Much has been experienced in vain.
I listened to stories of our glorious homeland,
And let the stories about the Tsar pass me by.

Sources:

  • Vitkovsky, E.V. (editor) — We Lived on Another Planet Back Then… (Anthology of Poetry by Russian Emigrants, 1920–1990) — 1994–1997 — Volume 4
  • Ellis, W. W. Selected Works. 1968.
Anton Bondarev
Latest posts by Anton Bondarev (see all)

CategoriesWriters and poets