by Ivan Zakharovich Surikov (1841 - 1880)
Translation © by Sofia Peycheva

Я ли в поле да не травушка была
Language: Russian (Русский)  after the Ukrainian (Українська) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
Я ли в поле да не травушка была,
Я ли в поле не зеленая росла;
Взяли меня, травушку, скосили,
На солнышке в поле иссушили.
Ох, ты, горе мое, горюшко!
Знать такая моя долюшка!

Я ли в поле не пшеничушка была?
Я ли в поле не высокая росла?
Взяли меня срезали серпами
Склали меня на поле снопами
Ох ты горе, моё горюшко
Знать такая моя долюшка.

Я ли в поле не калинушка была,
Я ли в поле да не красная росла;
Взяли калинушку, [поломали]1,
[И]2 в жгутики меня посвязали!
Ох, ты, горе мое, горюшко!
Знать такая моя долюшка!

Я ль у батюшки не доченька была,
У родимой не цветочек я росла;
Неволей меня, бедную, взяли,
[И]2 с немилым, седым повенчали!
Ох, ты, горе мое, горюшко!
Знать такая моя долюшка!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   P. Tchaikovsky 

P. Tchaikovsky sets stanzas 1, 3-4

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Tchaikovsky: "сломали" ("slomali")
2 Tchaikovsky: "Да" ("Da")

Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST

Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

Based on:

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

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

  • ENG English (Sofia Peycheva) , "Was I not like grass in the lea?", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "N'étais-je pas un brin d'herbe dans le pré ?", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-03
Line count: 24
Word count: 132

Was I not like grass in the lea?
Language: English  after the Russian (Русский) 
Was I not like grass in the lea? 
Was I not growing like green grass? 
They took me and cut me down. 
Dried me away in the sun. 
Oh, my misfortune! 
Oh, my miserable fate! 

[...
...
...
...
...
...]

Was I not like a guilder-rose in the lea? 
Was I not growing beautifully in the lea? 
They’ve broken my branches (and) 
Tied them into bundles. 
Oh, my misfortune! 
Oh, my miserable fate? 

Was I not my father’s daughter? 
Was I not my mother’s little flower? 
They took me against my will
[and] wedded me with a grey-haired, unloved man. 
Oh, my misfortune! 
Oh, my miserable fate!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2016 by Sofia Peycheva, (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: 

Based on:

Based on:

 

This text was added to the website: 2016-01-14
Line count: 24
Word count: 102