A farmer's thoughts | I sit down at the table

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by Aleksey Vasil'yevich Kol'tsov (1808 - 1842)

Translation © by Johann Winkler

Сяду я за стол —

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG

Сяду я за стол —
Да подумаю:
Как на свете жить
Одинокому?

Нет у молодца
Молодой жены,
Нет у молодца
Друга вернова,

Золотой казны,
Угла тёплова,
Бороны-сохи,
Коня-пахаря;

Вместе с бедностью
Дал мне батюшка
Лишь один талан —
Силу крепкую;

Да и ту как раз
Нужда горькая
По чужим людям
Всю истратила.

Сяду я за стол —
Да подумаю:
Как на свете жить
Одинокому?

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with А. В. Кольцов, Полное собрание стихотворений, Ленинград, Советский писатель, 1958.

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Aleksey Vasil'yevich Kol'tsov (1808 - 1842), "Раздумье селянина", written 1837 [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 Aleksei Vladimirovich Abutkov (1875 - 1945), "Раздумье селянина", op. 12 (10 Писен) no. 3 [ voice and piano ], Москва (Moscow), Советвенность Издателя `Симфония' [sung text checked 1 time]
by Georgy Petrovich Bazilevsky (b. 1887), "Раздумье селянина", op. 15 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Nikolay Aleksandrovich Borozdin (1872 - 1887), "Сяду я за стол" [sung text not yet checked]
by Gavriil Yakimovich Lomakin (1812 - 1885), "Сяду я за стол" [sung text not yet checked]
by Nikolay Nikolayevich Sokolovsky (1865 - 1921), "Раздумье селянина" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Vasily Andreyevich Zolotaryov (1872 - 1964), "Сяду я за стол", op. 12 no. 5 (1904) [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Johann Winkler) , "A farmer's thoughts", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2020-11-30
Line count: 24
Word count: 64

A farmer's thoughts

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

I sit down at the table
and think:
How shall I on this earth
live alone? 

The young lad
hasn't a young wife,
the lad hasn't
a genuine friend,

neither goods nor money,
no cosy corner,
neither harrow nor plow,
no horse for plowing;

along with poverty
my father has given me
one talent only:
great strength.

Ay, and even this
has the bitter need
among a strange people
used up completely.

I sit down at the table
and think:
How shall I on this earth
live alone?

Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2020 by Johann Winkler, (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 Aleksey Vasil'yevich Kol'tsov (1808 - 1842), "Раздумье селянина", written 1837
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2020-11-30
Line count: 24
Word count: 88