LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,895)
  • Text Authors (20,885)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,129)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

×

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819 - 1898)
Translation © by Malcolm Wren

Ночь
 (Sung text for setting by P. Tchaikovsky)
 See original
Language: Russian (Русский) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE POL
Отчего я люблю тебя, светлая ночь, --
Так люблю, что страдая любуюсь тобой!
И за что я люблю тебя, тихая ночь!
Ты не мне, ты другим посылаешь покой!...

Что мне звёзды -- луна -- небосклон -- облака --
Этот свет, что, скользя на холодный гранит,
Превращает в алмазы росинки цветка,
И, как путь золотой, через море бежит?

Ночь! -- за что мне любить твой серебряный свет!
Усладит ли он горечь скрываемых слёз,
Даст ли жадному сердцу желанный ответ,
Разрешит ли сомнений тяжёлый вопрос!

 ... 

Сам не знаю, за что я люблю тебя, ночь, --
Так люблю, что страдая любуюсь тобой!
Сам не знаю, за что я люблю тебя, ночь, --
Оттого, может быть, что далёк мой покой! --

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-3,6 of the original text.

Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST

Note on Transliterations

Composition:

    Set to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893), "Ночь", op. 60 no. 9 (1886), stanzas 1-3,6 [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch)

Text Authorship:

  • by Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819 - 1898), "Ночь", first published 1850

See other settings of this text.

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

  • ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "Night", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Nuit", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Alicja Istigniejew) , "Noc", copyright © 2013, (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: 24
Word count: 163

Night
 (Sung text translation for setting by P. Tchaikovsky)
 See original
Language: English  after the Russian (Русский) 
Why do I love you, shining night?
I love you so much that even in my suffering I love you!
And is that why I love you, quiet night?
It is not me but others to whom you send rest! . . .

What are the stars to me, the moon, the sky, the clouds,
This light hovering over the cold granite
Transforming the dew drops on the flowers into diamonds
And running across the sea like a golden highway?

Night? Why do I love your silver light?
Does it remove the bitter taste of hidden tears?
Might it give the longed for answer to an eager heart?
Will it resolve doubts raised by painful questions?

 ... 

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-3,6 of the original text.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2017 by Malcolm Wren, (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 Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819 - 1898), "Ночь", first published 1850
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2017-12-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 161

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2026 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris