In a brutally bright and brutally black centenary, the one hundredth year of the revelation of poet Yeghishe Charents, one of the most perfect creations of mankind, is taking its place.
We want the year to be in its entire universe, we would like to see its flag at the head of our broken, scattered-confused march, that brave man, we want to discover our kinship with him, that tall and upright man, we want to follow his example and not be mute before this agonizing time - to open up Armenian times and spaces in front of our Armenian Cause, to see us as one and the same eternal march of our ancestors and future generations. in and hope and believe in our eternity.
Is it worth it, can we, is it worth it today?
In other words, he deserves it, in other words, we did not come upon his heavy debt by surprise, in other words, he was with us at every moment and in our time, even if his defiled and disturbed time and our defiled time are opposite and at war, he is the leader of our time, because he is the spirit of freedom and freedom itself. not averse to spiritual servitude, he could not be molded and belong not even to any very big idea or party, not even to his own time.
An enemy of the province and provincialism, will he be able to belong to our national community for a whole year, at least one year? an enemy of violence and poverty, an internationalist to the core, inseparable from our national nature by the essence of his work, will he not leave our camp of captors and poor, fake international and threatened national, if not to honor him, then at least tolerate in us? I want to be able to and we will be able to. They are Charentsin and Charentsian - that Lenin, that Myasnikian, those Communards, that lamentation over our poverty by Nairyan, that persistent and long-lasting effort to get rid of this national disgrace, as if the demon Mher is trying to break free from a stone and can't, can't, that hysterical laughter at idolatry and perishing idols, that new and new form of idolatry, that evil divine anger of man and that poor slavish obedience, that eternal motif of destruction and reconstruction, that and such recognition of man and humanity that everything and everyone could be marked with a symbol, that could tie barricades and turn every contemplator into a soldier in his hand - all these are Charentsin and Charentsyan and must be ours. we have to make ours.
We can set our foot firmly on all times and all sides. That brave traveler named Charents has been everywhere before us, and no dark hole becomes destruction for us, but only the shiver of discovery, even the discovery of destruction.
Blessed is the army whose scout is himself, blessed is the freedom of our nation and the world. blessed are we who enter his and their camp - we will come out filled with the courage of excitement, we will come out with all our shackles thrown off.
"Literary Newspaper", 21.01.1997