In the folk calendar, the date January 18 is called Epiphany Christmas Eve, Hungry Evening or Hungry Kutia. Orthodox Christians celebrate January 19th. It is believed that Epiphany frosts begin on this day.

Epiphany Christmas Eve- This is an evening of preparation on the eve of a major church holiday. At this time, rituals related to the blessing of water are performed.

People also called January 18 Hungry Kutya or Hungry Evening. During this period, abundant feasts and fun stopped. People were preparing for fasting by cooking unleavened juice without butter or cottage cheese.

Epiphany evening: fortune telling

Epiphany is the last night for Christmas fortune-telling. Sometimes girls went out to tell fortunes to the first person they met:

meeting a young guy means marriage;
old man - to trouble.

It was customary to tell fortunes about the harvest. According to popular belief, on this night frost falls on the bread that is destined to be born in the summer. Bread that remains dry will not bear fruit. For this purpose, they put different breads in cups outside at night, and in the morning they looked at which frost had fallen.

Fortune telling about the betrothed was also common. To find out in which direction her future husband lived, the girl would take off her boot or shoe and throw the shoes over a fence or barrier. I looked in which direction the sock would point, and wait for the groom from there.

To find out who was destined to get married this year, the girls gathered in the house. Unmarried women sat in a circle in the middle of the room. The married woman took the wedding ring off her finger, tied a woolen thread to it and began to slowly walk around those present. Approaching each girl, calling her name. If the ring began to spin strongly after this, then the girl will get married this year.

Before going to bed, the girls combed their hair with a clean comb tied with a ribbon. Then they put it under the pillow with the words: “ Who will come to comb my hair? The betrothed was supposed to appear in a dream.

Epiphany evening: customs and traditions

“Epiphany Evening” was considered a time of rampant evil spirits. It was believed that devils were especially dangerous at certain times from 12 to 3 am (devil's hour), as well as on and the day before. During these periods, there is a possibility of communication with another world and evil spirits that try to get into the house as a werewolf. She can take any form: cats, pigs, dogs, snakes. It is not uncommon for werewolves to enter a home in the guise of a baby, a wanderer, a miller, or a blacksmith. Sometimes they can take the form of an acquaintance - a husband, a neighbor.

Epiphany evening is a day of strict fasting and repentance, preparing believers for the great holiday of the Epiphany, which is distinguished by pomp and solemnity. Two rites of blessing water are performed:

on the eve of Epiphany - inside the church;
on the day of Epiphany - on the nearest lake or river.

Epiphany water sanctifies, gives blessing, purification, and health. At midnight on Epiphany they went to the river to fetch water. According to legend, the water in the rivers sways at this time. In the evening, water was poured into the bowl. If at midnight it itself sways - this is a good sign, the person saw the appearance of the Lord.

According to legend, snow collected on the evening before Epiphany helps heal illnesses. People washed themselves with snow, and stored the melt water for a long time, using it for household needs and for washing. To keep their skin white and smooth, girls took snow and wiped their faces with it.

Clean snow was added to the food of livestock so that it would not freeze and be healthy, and collected for the bath: “A bathhouse will fix everything, a snow bathhouse will add beauty.” They believed that if the snow collected on Epiphany Eve is thrown into a well, the water in it will not deteriorate or dry out throughout the year. They also collected snow in jars for bleaching canvases.

On the eve of Epiphany, a strict fast was observed. The obligatory dishes were kutia, oatmeal jelly and pancakes. At Epiphany, pancakes were placed in the barn to appease the brownie and ensure well-being for the livestock. At the evening meal we ate richly.

Until the beginning of the 20th century in Rus', sochivo was prepared from rye grain, and later from rice and wheat grain. The tradition of cooking sochivo from wheat or rye grain was preserved only in rural areas, where people had the opportunity to purchase this grain. For this reason, city residents are more familiar with a dish made from rice.

Epiphany Christmas Eve: what not to do?

On this day you cannot clean the house, wash clothes in the river, swear or be offended by someone. Try to forgive the offenders and think positively.

Water collected for Epiphany has strong energy. It is not recommended to mix Epiphany water with regular water, otherwise it will lose its healing properties. While collecting water, it is forbidden to swear or think about something bad.

It is believed that Epiphany water can stand for many years without spoiling. But if there are constantly quarrels and scandals in the house, then it will become unusable within a month.

On the eve of the holiday and on Epiphany, you cannot borrow or lend. Otherwise, the person will be in poverty all year.

January 18: signs and beliefs

If there is a snowstorm on Epiphany Christmas Eve, then three months later there will also be a snowstorm.
Snowfall on January 18 is a good sign. The bees will swarm well.
Snow that falls early in the morning promises a good harvest of early buckwheat, at noon - medium, and in the evening - late.
Clear skies on Epiphany night mean a rich pea harvest.
Shining stars in the sky mean good bread.
Dogs bark often - there will be a lot of game.

People born on January 18 have a calm and quiet disposition. They are meek and unnoticeable. They should wear an opal or emerald as a talisman.

Video: Epiphany Christmas Eve

I used a ring to tell fortunes on Epiphany night,
So that my betrothed appears to me - in disguise.
Rusted in my lonely palace
The cards are old: it will fall or it will fall
I want the king of diamonds... Under the melted candle
The cards fanned out onto the floor.
The Queen of Spades winked, shrugging her shoulder:
“See, here I am! And you didn’t believe me.
Wasn’t she waiting for me, having laid out her inventory,
Spelled half the night over gold?
Under the window there is a gray-haired tramp - January
He scattered his long beard.
Something whispers among the bare frozen birches,
Pokes his nose at...

The annual cycle ends.
January is approaching the threshold.
The time has come for us all to repent
and finally sum it up
good and evil that we have sown
in the field of your conscience,
dreams that were dispelled
the thick fog of days gone by,
all our feelings unspent,
to all our thoughts and deeds,
bills that are still paid,
at least somehow, with grief in half...

The world is waiting, trembling with impatience,
watches the hands of the clock.
The night of baptism is about to come,
Night of absolution.
Let this...

Night - it’s time for us to sleep again,
Night is for rest.
Night is a lie that comes to life at night Evil,
The night is for us, it will give the light of the stars.

The night is in it, a riddle, a secret and a dream,
It’s night - but the poet has no time for sleep.
The night is in it, all the colors have been eaten away by the darkness.
The night is dark, but there is such depth in it!

Night - you, saving me, give me peace.
Night - I, I’ll take a piece of you into verse.
Night - you will cover me with soft darkness,
Night - hide my sins and pain in the darkness.

Night - you give us time for love.
Night...

Night, beloved and love,
Came into our hearts again,
And our blood boils
Prepare words of love for me.

Night, beloved, snowfall,
And your desired, tender gaze.
It's like a starfall at night,
And there is lightning in the sky.

Night, beloved and thunderstorm,
There is a frozen tear in the eyes.
Your beautiful eyes
And a quietly spoken phrase.

Night, beloved and sadness,
It's like old, worthless morality.
Takes my soul away
I'm sorry to part with you.

Night, beloved and flowers,
You gave them today.
They are alike...

I will trust everything to paper, as it is.
And in a few years you, perhaps,
Once you read it, you will want to re-read it again.

If my line warms you,
If you respond with your soul,
So it wasn’t in vain that it was a sleepless night,
And the dreams were not in vain.

On an autumn night, on an anxious night
I have no time for dreams from the surging words.
Through time again
through the impossible distance
I'm ready to be with you until dawn.

It's time to put an end to my life.
But I haven’t burned all my bridges yet...

Night. Wind. Wind. Night.
Heavy rain. The snow is disappearing.
As if removing a veil of frost
Autumn has opened its face again -
It's the shaggy winds that play,
turning the wheel of time,
It's someone calling with a candle
go out onto his porch...

There's shadows on the wet threshold
until two thousand and five,
There, squinting from the gray wind
a man stands motionless...
- Don't look, make some tea,
It's just night, bad weather
It's in the vents of the pipeline
Rain water runs fast...

There is only night. Only the wind and night.
Large...

Night, only night is given to you and me
At night you are always with me, you are close.
During the day, you and I see it’s not destiny to be,
The night will cover us with its blanket.

There are a lot of stars in that blanket
Stars and constellations with a sad moon,
That you and I shine all night
And they don’t let you get lost by accident.

We are under the night blanket with you
Holding hands, we walk along the road.
Let me kiss you, just wait,
Let sadness and anxiety leave us.

I will forget everything with you,
The night will help us find all the roads.
And kiss...

Ivan Bunin - poetry

Epiphany night

Gray frosts have descended,

The birches dozed off, bending over.
Their branches froze motionless,
And between them on the snowy bosom,
As if through lace silver,
The full month looks down from the sky.
He rose high above the forest,
In its bright light, numb,
And the shadows creep strangely,
In the snow under the branches turning black.
The thicket of the forest was covered with a blizzard, -
Only tracks and paths flow.
Running between the pines and fir trees,
Between the birch trees to the dilapidated gatehouse.
The gray blizzard lulled me to sleep
The forest is deserted by a wild song,
And he fell asleep, covered in a blizzard,
All through, motionless and white.
Mysteriously slender thickets sleep,
They sleep, dressed in deep snow,
And glades, and meadows, and ravines,
Where streams once roared.

And maybe beyond this ravine
A wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts

Silence - maybe he’s close...
And I stand, filled with anxiety,
And I look intensely at the thicket,
On the tracks and bushes along the road,
In the distant thickets, where the branches and shadows
In the moonlight patterns are woven,
I still feel like something is alive,
It's like animals are running by.
Light from the forest guardhouse
It flickers cautiously and timidly,
It's like he's lurking under the forest
And waits for something in the silence.
A diamond radiant and bright,
Playing green and blue,
In the east, at the throne of God,
The star shines quietly, as if alive.
And above the forest higher and higher

Frosty midnight freezes
I am the crystal forest kingdom!

Bunin's poem "Epiphany Night" dates back to the early period of the poet's work. The poem was finally completed in 1901.

Its name is associated with the Orthodox holiday of the Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 19 according to the new style. But many folk legends and signs were also associated with this holiday. For example, it was believed that if there was severe frost on Epiphany night, then the year would be fertile. These signs were undoubtedly familiar to the poet, who spent his childhood on his estate. But Bunin begins the description of Epiphany night without connecting it with a religious holiday. It seems like just a night in a winter forest, full of poetry and charm:

Dark spruce forest with snow like fur,
Gray frosts have descended,
In sparkles of frost, like in diamonds,
The birches dozed off, bending over.

Before us is a quiet and solemn picture, a cosmos of frozen space:

Their branches froze motionless,
And between them on the snowy bosom,
As if through lace silver
The full month looks down from the sky.

In the way the poet describes the snowdrifts (“snow bosom”), one can feel the echoes of Epiphany beliefs, in which so much space is given to snow. So, in some villages on Epiphany night they collected snow from stacks, believing that only snow could properly whiten the canvases. Some believed that if on Epiphany evening you collect snow from a field and pour it into a well, then there will be water in the well all year. This snow was believed to have healing properties.

The thicket of the forest was covered with a blizzard, -
Only traces and paths wind,
Running between the pines and fir trees,
Between the birch trees to the dilapidated gatehouse.

Here, for the first time in the poem, we feel the presence of a person - a lonely person who whiles away the pre-holiday night in a deep forest and watches from afar the lights of someone else's home. It is through his eyes that we see the snowy forest:

The dark thickets sleep mysteriously,
They sleep, dressed in deep snow,
And glades, and meadows, and ravines,
Where streams once roared.

Behind the elation of poetic intonation, man’s long-standing fear of the secrets of wild nature seems to be hidden. The endless loneliness of a person fills his soul with a completely earthly fear of forest animals:

Silence - not even a branch will crunch!
Or maybe beyond this ravine
A wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts
With a cautious and insinuating step.
Silence - maybe he’s close...
And I stand, filled with anxiety,
And I look intensely at the thicket,
On tracks and bushes along the road.

In this expectation of a person there is not only fear of the forest animal, but also some kind of ancient kinship with it. Both of them are forced to hide in the forest from prying eyes. However, what distinguishes man from the beast is not only fear of nature, of the secrets of the forest, but also a timid expectation of some miracle on Epiphany night:

Light from the forest guardhouse
It flickers cautiously and timidly,
It's like he's lurking under the forest
And waits for something in the silence.

This light is like a lost human soul that longs for salvation and hopes for the mercy of God. The desire for God sounds in the high and solemn description of the star:

A diamond radiant and bright,
Playing green and blue,
In the east, at the throne of God,
The star shines quietly, as if alive.

Although this happens on Epiphany night, we involuntarily remember the Christmas star that lit up when the Savior was born. Another sign is associated with Epiphany: if the stars shine and burn especially brightly on Epiphany night, then many lambs will be born (the lamb is a symbol of Jesus Christ). The Star of the Lord, shining over the world, equalizes the living and the inanimate, the sinful and the righteous, sending peace and consolation to the world:

And above the forest higher and higher
The month rises, and in wondrous peace
Frosty midnight freezes
And the crystal forest kingdom!

Here Bunin talks about the famous Epiphany frost, when the cold makes everything ringing and fragile, when midnight seems like some mysterious turning point - to warmth, summer, streams babbling in the ravines. The poem “Epiphany Night” was written almost simultaneously with the stories “Meliton” and “Pines”. Therefore, there is a lot in common between them. Both in the poem and in the stories, the harsh and beautiful forest space seems to absorb a person. In “Melton” and in “Epiphany Night”, a “decrepit gatehouse” lost in a mighty forest is described - a symbol of lonely human life. And in “Pines” and in the poem the image of a star is through and through. In the story, “the star in the northeast seems to be the star at the throne of God.” These expressive visual images serve the common goal of revealing the unearthly grandeur of the sky above the perishable world of people. Therefore, the poem describes that below, under the star, “the light from the forest guardhouse flickers cautiously and timidly.” Moreover, unlike the story “Meliton”, in “Epiphany Night” it is an impersonal light, a hint of human smallness and loneliness in the face of nature and God.

The poem “Epiphany Night” combines the Christian vision of the world and the peasant, folk perception of nature. Bunin shows us the beauty and grandeur of nature, inspired by man and God's plan.

Ivan Bunin
"Dog"
Dream dream. Everything is already dimmer
You look with golden eyes
To the blizzard yard, to the snow stuck to the frame,
On the brooms of echoing, smoky poplars.

Sighing, you curled up warmer
At my feet - and you think... We ourselves
We torment ourselves with the longing of other fields,
Other deserts... beyond the Permian mountains.

You remember what is alien to me:
Gray skies, tundras, ice and plagues
In your cold wild side.
But I always share my thoughts with you:
I am a man: like a god I am doomed
To experience the melancholy of all countries and all times.

The philosophical principle is present in many worksIvan Bunin, however, this tendency is most clearly visible in the poems that the poet read in the most convenient way to express his own thoughts and feelings. Bunin often draws a parallel between people and animals, trying to prove to himself and those around him that any creation of God is endowed with a soul that knows how to love, suffer, worry and be grateful. An example of such reasoning is the poem , written in August 1909. At this time, Bunin is in Yelets, where he rents a dacha for the summer, hoping to work fruitfully. However, the cold and rainy summer makes the poet sad. One evening he creates a poem“Dog”, which is dedicated to the Siberian Laika . However, Bunin presents his rhymed narrative in such a way as if he were conducting a dialogue with his own dog. Moreover, he makes serious adjustments during the year, pointing out “to the blizzard yard, to the snow stuck to the frame.” This is not surprising, since Bunin, forced to sit in his country house without leaving, experiences real melancholy. He endows the nameless dog with the same feelings, addressing it with the words: “Dream, dream.” The poet knows for certain that even a yard dog can experience the whole gamut of feelings. As for Maxim Gorky’s husky, Bunin repeatedly saw melancholy in her yellow eyes, which he attributed to memories of the past. “Gray skies, tundra, ice and plagues” - this is what, according to the author, disturbs the dog’s soul. AND he immediately draws an analogy with himself, making an amazing discovery: he himself is no better than this dog, since his thoughts are far from the Russian outback and he also languishes “with the longing for other fields, other deserts.”

Finding common features between humans and animals, Bunin still places people somewhat higher than dogs. He explains this by saying that the dog, curled up at his feet, suffers from the fact that he cannot return to the north, and is forced to live out his last days in a foreign land. However, the dog is not able to understand what is going on in the human soul at this moment; it cannot show sympathy. At the same time, the author admits: “I always share my thoughts with you.” Bunin notes that man is the highest being on earth, therefore he is “doomed to experience the melancholy of all countries and all times,” regardless of his own desires.

Loneliness

And the wind, and the rain, and the darkness
Above the cold desert of water.
Here life died until spring,
The gardens were empty until spring.
I'm alone at the dacha. I'm dark
Behind the easel, and blowing out the window.

Yesterday you were with me
But you are already sad with me.
In the evening of a stormy day
You began to seem like a wife to me...
Well, goodbye! Someday until spring
I can live alone - without a wife...

Today they go on and on
The same clouds - ridge after ridge.
Your footprint in the rain by the porch
It blurred and filled with water.
And it hurts me to look alone
Into the late afternoon gray darkness.

I wanted to shout after:
“Come back, I have become close to you!”
But for a woman there is no past:
She fell out of love and became a stranger to her.
Well! I'll light the fireplace and drink...
It would be nice to buy a dog.

The theme of loneliness is one of the key ones in the work of the Russian poet and writer Ivan Bunin. This feeling is experienced by many of the characters in his works, which is explained by the state of mind of the author himself, who for many years remained an unrecognized genius both in his homeland and abroad, where he spent the rest of his life. However, the poem “Loneliness,” created in the summer of 1903, is only partly autobiographical. Ivan Bunin dedicated it to his friend, Odessa artist Pyotr Nilus, whom he called only “the poet of painting.”

This work was written during Ivan Bunin’s next trip abroad - he spent the summer of 1903 in dusty and hot Constantinople, far from friends and loved ones. Despite the fact that this period of creativity was one of the most fruitful for him, in his soul Ivan Bunin, like the hero of his poem, suffered from loneliness. That's why,dedicating this work to Peter Nilus, the author seemed to connect him and his destinies with an invisible thread, emphasizing that being alone is the lot of most creative people, who during their lifetime remain misunderstood even by those whom they consider their friends and lovers.

It is worth noting that before his trip to Constantinople, Ivan Bunin experienced a deep spiritual tragedy, breaking up with his wife, Anna Tsakni. The personal drama left a deep imprint on his work, since during this period life seemed gloomy and colorless to Bunin, and, most importantly, devoid of any meaning. Therefore, it is not surprising that the poem “Loneliness,” written at the height of summer, smells of autumn cold and hopelessness; it is designed in gray tones, and wind, rain and mist are used as a picturesque background. The author transfers the plot of this work to a dank autumn day, when his hero remains in an empty dacha, and it “pains for him to look alone into the late afternoon gray darkness.”The bleak landscape outside the window, the cold and dampness are just an entourage that only emphasizes mental turmoil , the melancholy and emptiness of the character in this work. Gradually, line by line, the author talks about the personal tragedy of his hero, who breaks up with the woman he loves. The reason for the breakdown of relations is very banal - he simply ceased to be interesting to the one whom he actually considered his wife. However, the illusions crumbled to dust, and loneliness became the logical conclusion of the novel.

However, it does not frighten either the author or his hero, who have long come to terms with this state of affairs. Therefore, not a single attempt was made to keep his beloved, and not a single reproach was said against her. Only a sad statement of the fait accompli of parting, as well as the fragile hope of “somehow surviving until spring,” when the empty holiday village will once again be filled with the voices of vacationers and awaken from winter hibernation.

The character in the poem “Loneliness” does not intend to speed up the course of events; he accepts his fate with amazing humility and some indifference. "Well! I’ll light the fireplace and drink…” - this is the answer of Bunin and the hero of his work to the world and the people who treated them so cruelly. Therefore, the final stanza of the poem that it would be nice to have a dog in such a situation is a veiled hint that the animal is unlikely to betray its owner. People,especially women, not only easily betray, but also instantly forget about those they once loved, since for them, according to Ivan Bunin, the past simply does not exist. And the world around us is woven from momentary desires and sensations, and there is no place in it for real and deep feelings.

THE LAST BUMBLE

Black velvet bumblebee, golden mantle,

Mournfully humming with a melodious string,

Why are you flying into human habitation?

And it’s like you’re pining for me?

Outside the window there is light and heat, the window sills are bright,

The last days are serene and hot,

Fly, sound your horn - and in a dried-up Tatar,

On a red pillow, fall asleep.

It is not given to you to know human thoughts,

That the fields have long been empty,

That soon a gloomy wind will blow into the weeds

Golden dry bumblebee!

Analysis of Bunin's poem "The Last Bumblebee"

People always associate autumn with nature, which is preparing for a long winter hibernation. However, looking at how the yellowed leaves fall, many people find themselves thinking about their own old age. Indeed, these two phenomena are closely interrelated, and they are united by the final result - death. And it is precisely this topic that writers love to talk about, who not only draw associative parallels, but also try to find an answer to the question of why the world is structured this way.

Ivan Bunin also has a similar poem-reasoning. The author wrote his “The Last Bumblebee” in the fall of 1916, not suspecting that within a few months Russia would be mired in the chaos of the revolution and, in fact, would die in the form in which the poet was very dear. It is difficult to say whether Bunin foresaw something like this. However, there is no doubt that at the time of writing this poem he was in a rather depressed and depressed state.

“A black velvet bumblebee, a golden mantle, mournfully humming with a melodious string,” these first lines of the poem create a special atmosphere, not only setting one in a lyrical and philosophical mood, but also showing that the author perceives the world around him through the prism of his personal experiences. Developing the theme of discussions about the frailty of existence, Bunin is looking for an ally in the bumblebee who could share with him the aching melancholy and sadness inspired by the last warm days of Indian summer. However, the author, unlike the bumblebee, is well acquainted with the laws of the universe, and understands perfectly well what fate awaits this beautiful and noble insect. Therefore, he tries to be extremely affectionate and patient with him, noting: “Fly, sound your horn - and in the dried-up Tatar,
on a red pillow, go to sleep.”

It's not hard to guess what will happen next. Bunin is devoid of illusions, and therefore is convinced that “that soon the gloomy wind will blow away the golden dry bumblebee into the weeds!” However, such a thought evokes very contradictory feelings in the author. On the one hand, he feels very sorry for this velvety buzzing creature, and on the other, the poet knows that he is unable to change anything. Therefore, saying goodbye to the last bumblebee, Bunin will experience a slight feeling of sadness, which directs his thoughts in a completely different direction. “It is not given to you to know human thoughts,” the poet notes, addressing the bumblebee. He himself had not yet fully understood why the arrival of autumn gives rise to so much sadness and doubt. But the poet knows for sure that someday the time will come, and he himself will find himself in the role of this bumblebee, who, believing in miracles, will one day fall asleep in a sweet dream and turn to dust. Bunin has a presentiment that something similar will very soon happen to Russia, so in this poem two parallels can be traced at once, the last of which is based on the intuition and vague premonitions of the author. But they turn out to be so accurate and true that they leave no doubt about Bunin’s ability to see the future and not have any illusions that it will be cloudless.

Bunin's poem "Epiphany Night" dates back to the early period of the poet's work. The poem was finally completed in 1901. Its name is associated with the Orthodox holiday of the Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 19 according to the new style. But many folk legends and signs were also associated with this holiday. For example, it was believed that if there was severe frost on Epiphany night, then the year would be fertile. These signs were undoubtedly familiar to the poet, who spent his childhood on his estate. But Bunin begins the description of Epiphany night without connecting it with a religious holiday. It seems like just a night in a winter forest, full of poetry and charm:

Dark spruce forest with snow like fur,

Gray frosts have descended,

In sparkles of frost, like in diamonds,

The birches dozed off, bending over.

Before us is a quiet and solemn picture, a cosmos of frozen space:

Their branches froze motionless,

And between them on the snowy bosom,

As if through lace silver

The full month looks down from the sky.

The thicket of the forest was covered with a blizzard, -

Only traces and paths wind,

Running between the pines and fir trees,

Between the birch trees to the dilapidated gatehouse.

The dark thickets sleep mysteriously,

They sleep, dressed in deep snow,

And glades, and meadows, and ravines,

Where streams once roared.

Silence - not even a branch will crunch!

Or maybe beyond this ravine

A wolf makes his way through the snowdrifts

With a cautious and insinuating step.

Silence - maybe he’s close...

And I stand, filled with anxiety,

And I look intensely at the thicket,

On tracks and bushes along the road.

Light from the forest guardhouse

It flickers cautiously and timidly,

It's like he's lurking under the forest

And waits for something in the silence.

This light is like a lost human soul that longs for salvation and hopes for the mercy of God. The desire for God sounds in the high and solemn description of the star:

A diamond radiant and bright,

Playing green and blue,

In the east, at the throne of God,

The star shines quietly, as if alive.

And above the forest higher and higher

The month rises, and in wondrous peace

Frosty midnight freezes

And the crystal forest kingdom!

The poem “Epiphany Night” combines the Christian vision of the world and the peasant, folk perception of nature. Bunin shows us the beauty and grandeur of nature, inspired by man and God's plan.