Old husband, terrible husband | Old husband, terrible husband

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by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837)

Translation © by Sofia Peycheva

Старый муж, грозный муж

(Sung text for setting by S. Rachmaninov)

See base text

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Старый муж, грозный муж,
Режь меня, жги меня:
Я тверда, не боюсь
Ни нока, ни огня.

Ненавижу тебя,
Презираю тебя,
Я другого люблю,
Умираю любя.

Режь меня, жги меня;
Не зкажу ничего;
Старый муж, грозный муж,
Не узнаешь его.

Он свежее весны
Жарче летнего дня;
Как он молод и свеж
Как он любит меня!

Как ласкала его
Я в ночной тишине!
Как смеялись тогда
Мы твоей седине!

Note: this is an excerpt from a much longer poem titled "Цыганы" [ru.wikisource.org, external website]

See also Pomey's very loose translation Désespoir.

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Note on Transliterations

Composition:

Sergei Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov

Text Authorship:

by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837), appears in Цыганы (Cygany), first published 1824

See other settings of this text.

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

ENG English (Sofia Peycheva) , "Old husband, terrible husband", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (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: 20
Word count: 68

Old husband, terrible husband

(Sung text translation for setting by S. Rachmaninov)

See original

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

Old husband, terrible husband, 
Cut me into pieces, burn me
I am strong and afraid
of neither knife nor fire! 

Old husband, terrible husband, 
I hate you, I despise you! 
I love another man, 
I’ll die loving him.






He is fresher than spring, 
he is hotter than a summer day.
He is so young and brave, 
he loves me so much!
 
How I caressed him 
in the silence of the night, 
How we laughed
at your grey hair!

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: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Russian (Русский) by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837), appears in Цыганы (Cygany), first published 1824
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This text was added to the website: 2016-01-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 78