Secret signs (Blok, set by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich) (The LiederNet Archive: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)

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by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921)

Translation © by Anne Evans

Тайные знаки

Language: Russian (Русский)

Available translation(s): ENG FRE

Разгораются тайные знаки
На глухой, непробудной стене.
Золотые и красные маки
Надо мной тяготеют во сне.

Укрываюсь в ночные пещеры
И не помню суровых чудес.
На заре голубые химеры
Смотрят в зеркале ярких небес.

Убегаю в прошедшие миги,
Закрываю от страха глаза,
На листах холодеющей книги -
Золотая девичья коса.

Надо мной небосвод уже низок,
Чёрный сон тяготеет в груди.
Мой конец предначертанный близок,
И война, и пожар - впереди...

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Note on Transliterations

Authorship

by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921) [author's text not yet checked 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 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), "Тайные знаки", op. 127 no. 6 [soprano, violin, cello], from Семь Стихотворений А. Блока: вокально-инструментальная сюита = Sem' stikhotvorenij A. Bloka, no. 6. [
text verified 1 time
]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Secret signs

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

The secret signs appear
on the impenetrable wall.
Golden and crimson poppies
blossom in my dreams.

I drown in the caverns of night,
and forget the magic of my dreams.
My fanciful thoughts
are reflected in the bright heavens.

These short moments will disappear,
and the beautiful maiden's 
eyes will close,
like the pages of a book.

The canopy of the stars is now low, 
the darkest dreams lie heavy in the heart. 
My end is near, fate has ordained it, 
with war and fire that lie before me...

Authorship

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2009 by Anne Evans, (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 Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921)