Frenzied nights, reckless nights

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by Aleksei Nikolayevich Apukhtin (1841 - 1893)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Ночи безумные, ночи бессонные

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG FRE GER

Ночи безумные, ночи бессонные,
Речи несвязные, взоры усталые...
Ночи, последним огнем озаренные,
Осени мёртвой цветы запоздалые!

Пусть даже время рукой беспощадною
Мне указало, что было в вас ложного,
Всё же лечу я к вам памятью жадною,
В прошлом ответа ищу невозможного...

Вкрадчивым шепотом вы заглушаете
Звуки дневные, несносные, шумные... 
В тихую ночь вы мой сон отгоняете,
Ночи бессонные, ночи безумные!

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Text Authorship:

by Aleksei Nikolayevich Apukhtin (1841 - 1893), no title, first published 1876 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by E. M. Balkashina , "Ночи безумные" [sung text not yet checked]
by Nikolay Grigorevich Derviz (1837 - 1880), "Ночи безумные" [sung text not yet checked]
by Sergei Ivanovich Donaurov (1839 - 1897), "Ночи безумные" [sung text not yet checked]
by Mikhail Nikolayevich Ofrosimov (b. 1840), "Ночи безумные" [sung text not yet checked]
by A. V. Sologub , "Ночи безумные" [sung text not yet checked]
by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893), "Ночи безумные", op. 60 (Двенадцать романсов = Dvenadcat' romansov (Twelve romances) = Zwölf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebleitung) no. 6 (1886) [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Evgeny Borisovich Vilbushevich (1874 - 1933), "Ночи безумные" [sung text checked 1 time]
by Sigizmund Vladislavovich Zaremba (1861 - 1915), "Ночи безумные, ночи бессонные" [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 60

Frenzied nights, reckless nights

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

Frenzied nights, reckless nights,
Incoherent thoughts, tired glances...
Nights, illuminated by the last fire,
Autumn’s dead flowers blooming too late!

Even if the merciless hand of time
Has showed me that which was false in you,
I still fly to you full of a covetous memory,
Stuck in the past, looking for an impossible answer...

Insinuating whispers from you muffle
The sounds of day, unbearable, noisy... 
In the quiet night, you drive away my dream,
frenzied nights, reckless nights!

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Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Prichard, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

a text in Russian (Русский) by Aleksei Nikolayevich Apukhtin (1841 - 1893), no title, first published 1876
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-10-23
Line count: 12
Word count: 79