I saw night. She before me

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 Arseny Arkad'yevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1848 - 1913)

Translation © by Sergey Rybin

Видение

(Sung text for setting by M. Musorgsky)

See original

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: CHI ENG FRE

Я видел ночь. Она передо мной
Вся в черном шла, живая, молодая,
Волшебница с поникшей головой,
Зарницами, как взглядами сверкая.

Прозрачен был её воздушный стан;
Но чуял я дыханья знойный трепет,
И в тишине, как ласковый обман
Незримых уст, призывный нёсся лепет.

Казалось мне, что чудная зовёт
Меня с собой к любви и наслажденью.
И я всё шёл, всё шёл за ней вперёд,
Объятый весь огнём её и тенью!

Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST

Note on Transliterations

Composition:

Modest Petrovich Musorgsky

Text Authorship:

by Arseny Arkad'yevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1848 - 1913), "Летная ночь", appears in Затишье и буря (1868-1878)

See other settings of this text.

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

CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sergey Rybin) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2020-12-07
Line count: 12
Word count: 71

Apparition

(Sung text translation for setting by M. Musorgsky)

See original

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

I saw night. She before me
Walked, all in black, alive, young, 
A sorceress with bowed head
With lightening flashing like glances.
 
Transparent was her light figure;
But I felt her sultry, tremulous breath.
And in the silence, like a tender illusion, 
Whispering from invisible lips was heard.

It seemed that the beautiful one was calling me
After her towards love and pleasure.
And I walked and walked, 
Totally consumed by her fire and shadow.

Translations of titles
"Летная ночь" = "Summer night"
"Видение" = "Apparition"

Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2015 by Sergey Rybin, (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 Arseny Arkad'yevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1848 - 1913), "Летная ночь", appears in Затишье и буря (1868-1878)
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2015-10-26
Line count: 12
Word count: 78