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

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by Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (1892 - 1941)
Translation © by John Plant

Черная, как зрачок, как зрачок, сосущая
Language: Russian (Русский) 
Черная, как зрачок, как зрачок, сосущая
Свет – люблю тебя, зоркая ночь.

Голосу дай мне воспеть тебя, о праматерь
Песен, в чьей длани узда четырех ветров.

Клича тебя, славословя тебя, я только
Раковина, где еще не умолк океан.

Ночь! Я уже нагляделась в зрачки человека!
Испепели меня, черное солнце – ночь!

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

  • by Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (1892 - 1941), no title, written 1916

Go to the general single-text view


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-03-08
Line count: 8
Word count: 51

[No title]
 (Sung text for setting by J. Plant)
 Matches base text
Language: English  after the Russian (Русский) 
Black as the pupil drinking the light 
I love you, keen-eyed night!
Grant me a voice to sing your praise 
O primal mother of songs!
The bridle of the four winds 
lies in the palm of your hand.

Calling you, declaring your glory, 
I am only a seashell
whose ocean has not yet died.

Night! Too long have I gazed on human eyes! 
Set me on fire, black sun, night!

Composition:

    Set to music by John Plant , no title, first performed 2015 [ soprano, alto saxophone, piano ], from Insomnia, no. 2

Text Authorship:

  • by John Plant , copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Based on:

  • a text in Russian (Русский) by Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (1892 - 1941), no title, written 1916
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2023-03-08
Line count: 11
Word count: 70

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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