Vieux mari, mari terrible

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by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

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

Vieux mari, mari terrible

(Sung text translation for setting by S. Rachmaninov)

See original

Language: French (Français) after the Russian (Русский)

Vieux mari, mari terrible,
Coupe-moi en morceaux, brûle-moi :
Je suis forte et je n'ai pas peur
Ni du couteau ni du feu.

Je te hais,
Je te méprise,
J'en aime un autre,
Je meurs d'amour pour lui.

Coupe-moi en morceaux, brûle-moi ;
Je ne dirai rien ;
Vieux mari, mari terrible,
Tu ne te le connaîtras pas.

Il est plus frais que le printemps,
Il est plus chaud qu'un jour d'été ;
Comme il est jeune et hardi,
Comme il m'aime !

Comme je le caressais
Dans le silence de la nuit !
Comme nous riions
De tes cheveux gris !

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Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to French (Français) copyright © 2016 by Guy Laffaille, (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 Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837), appears in Цыганы (Cygany), first published 1824
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This text was added to the website: 2016-01-20
Line count: 20
Word count: 95