The nymph | I know why sailors are captured by

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by Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov (1821 - 1897)

Translation © by Kyle Gee

Я знаю, отчего у этих берегов

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG ENG FRE

Я знаю, отчего у этих берегов
Раздумье тайное объемлет дух пловцов:
Там нимфа грустная с распущенной косою,
Полузакрытая певучей осокою,
Порою песнь поёт про шелк своих власов,
Лазурь заплаканных очей, жемчуг зубов
И сердце, полное любви неразделенной.
Проедет ли челнок-пловец обвороженный,
Её заслушавшись, перестает грести;
Замолкнет ли она -- но долго на пути
Ему всё чудятся напевы над водою
И нимфа в камышах, с распущенной косою.

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Text Authorship:

by Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov (1821 - 1897), no title, written 1841, appears in В антологическом роде (V antologicheskom rode) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Grigory Alekseyevich Alchevsky (1866 - 1920), "Я знаю отчего у этих берегов" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Sergey Grigoryevich Grasgof (b. 1881), "Я знаю отчего у этих берегов" [sung text not yet checked]
by Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 - 1908), "Нимфа", op. 56 (2 романса на слова Майкова для сопрано с сопровождением фортепиано (2 romansa na slova Majkova dlja soprano s soprovozhdeniem fortepiano)) no. 1 (1898) [ soprano and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Aleksandr Petrovich Vasilyev , "Я знаю отчего у этих берегов" [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Kyle Gee) , "The nymph", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sergey Rybin) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La nymphe", copyright © 2015, (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: 12
Word count: 65

The nymph

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

I know why sailors are captured by 
a mysterious, thoughtful mood around these shores:
Here there is a melancholy nymph with a loose braid,
almost hidden through the singing reeds,
who sometimes sings a song about the silk of her hair,
the azure of her tearful eyes, the pearls of her teeth
and her heart, filled with unrequited love.
When a small boat passes by -- an entranced sailor,
listens to her, and stops rowing;
She stops singing -- but for long after that
He seems to hear her singing over the water
and sees a nymph among the reeds, with her loose hair.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2014 by Kyle Gee, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Kyle Gee. Contact: kyleanthonygee (AT) gmail (DOT) com
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Based on:

a text in Russian (Русский) by Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov (1821 - 1897), no title, written 1841, appears in В антологическом роде (V antologicheskom rode)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-01-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 102