The secret signs appear

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by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921)

Translation © by Anne Evans

Разгораются тайные знаки

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: 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

Text Authorship:

by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921), no title, written 1902, appears in Стихотворения. Книга первая (1898—1904), in 2. Стихи о Прекрасной Даме (1901-1902) (Stikhi o Prekrasnoj Dame), in 6. С.-Петербург. Осень — 7 ноября 1902 года, no. 20 [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 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 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Anne Evans) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2008, (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: 16
Word count: 68

The secret signs appear

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...

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Тайные знаки" = "Secret signs"

Text 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Russian (Русский) by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921), no title, written 1902, appears in Стихотворения. Книга первая (1898—1904), in 2. Стихи о Прекрасной Даме (1901-1902) (Stikhi o Prekrasnoj Dame), in 6. С.-Петербург. Осень — 7 ноября 1902 года, no. 20
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2009-02-07
Line count: 16
Word count: 89