The light of the rising stars – all night long

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by Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819 - 1898)

Translation © by Aleksey Berg

Свет восходящих звёзд ‑ вся ночь, когда...

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG

Свет восходящих звёзд - вся ночь, когда она
Светла без месяца, без облаков темна, 
  Заключена в глазах твоих чудесных.
При них теряюсь я -- и не могу понять,
И словом не могу понятным передать
  Волнений, сердцу неизвестных.
Я верю иногда, что мне в глазах твоих
  Читать любовь -- была б отрада.
А иногда мне страшно возле них,
  Как тёмной ночью возле клада. 
Что выражает мне твой непонятный взгляд,
Когда глаза твои глядят и не глядят
  Из-под ресниц тяжеловесных?
Не так ли две звезды -- две путницы небесных,
Не зная, чьи мечты за ними вслед текут --
Горят -- не греют -- но... влекут.

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Text Authorship:

by Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819 - 1898), no title, written 1855 [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 Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev (1856 - 1915), "Свет восходящих звёзд", op. 33 (5 Стихотворений (5 Stikhotvorenij) = 5 Poems) no. 2 (1911), published 1912 [ voice and piano ], Berlin: Russischer Musikverlag [sung text checked 1 time]
by Yelena Ernstovna Yevtushevskaya (b. 1969), "Свет восходящих звёзд" [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Aleksey Berg) , copyright © 2019, (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: 96

The light of the rising stars – all...

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

The light of the rising stars – all night long,
When the sky is bright without moonshine,
And dark despite the lack of clouds,
Is captured in your wonderful eyes.
I am lost in front of them and cannot understand,
Cannot convey in meaningful words,
Those thrills, unknown to the heart.
I sometimes believe that it would be my happiness
To read love in your eyes.
But sometimes I feel frightened by them,
Like on a dark night, next to a buried treasure.
What does your mysterious glance express,
When your eyes both look and don’t look
From under heavy eyelashes?
Isn’t it like two stars, two heavenly wanderers,
Unaware of those whose dreams flow after them,
The stars burn without heat, but... they lure.

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Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2019 by Aleksey Berg, (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 Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819 - 1898), no title, written 1855
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This text was added to the website: 2019-07-21
Line count: 17
Word count: 125