Le captif | Je suis dans ma cage, dans l'ombre glacée

by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837)

Translation Singable translation by Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi (1877 - 1944)

Узник

Language: Russian (Русский)

Сижу за решёткой в темнице сырой.
Вскормлённый [в неволе]¹ орёл молодой,
Мой грустный товарищ, махая крылом,
Кровавую пищу клюет под окном.

Клюёт и бросает, и смотрит в окно,
Как будто со мною задумал одно,
Зовёт меня взглядом и криком своим
И вымолвить хочет: ,,Давай улетим!

Мы вольные птицы; Пора, брат, пора!
Туда, где за тучей белеет гора,
Туда, где синеют морские края,
Туда, где гуляем лишь ветер... да я!``

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Gretchaninov • N. Medtner

View original text (without footnotes)
Note: written in Kishinyov
¹ Gretchaninov, Medtner: "на воле" ("na vole")

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837), "Узник", written 1822 [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 Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Aliabev (1787 - 1851), "Узник", 1843 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Aleksandr Tikhonovich Gretchaninov (1864 - 1956), "Узник", op. 20 (Четыре романса (Chetyre romansa)) no. 4, published 1899 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Belaieff [sung text checked 1 time]
by Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (1880 - 1951), "Узник", op. 52 (Семь песен на стихотворения А. Пушкина (Sem' pesen na stikhotvorenija A. Pushkina)) no. 7 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (1829 - 1894), "Узник", op. 78 (Zwölf Lieder aus dem Russischen von W. Osterwald (Twelve Russian Songs)) no. 6, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Pauline Viardot-García (1821 - 1910), "Узник", VWV 1057 (1863) [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Karl) Wilhelm Osterwald (1820 - 1887) ; composed by Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein.
Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (1819 - 1892) , "Der Gefangene" ; composed by Pauline Viardot-García.

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

FRE French (Français) [singable] (Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi) , "Le captif", first published 1912

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: 70

Le captif

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

Je suis dans ma cage, dans l'ombre glacée,
Moi fils de l'air libre, moi jeune faucon ;
Mon frère s'afflige, m'appelle à grands cris.
Il tourne, il se pose, puis ronge une proie ;

Et puis il la quitte regarde de vers moi,
Un rêve, le même, nous hante tous deux,
Son cri perçant monte, je lis dans ses yeux,
Je sens qu'il m'implore ; « Fuyons loin d'ici !

Nos ailes sont libres ; viens frère, il est temps !
Les cîmes sont blanches, l'azur nous attend,
Les brises marines, les clairs horizons.
Là-bas dans l'espace, nous sommes les rois ! »

From a Gretchaninov score, Leipzig: M.P. Belaieff, 1912.

Text Authorship:

Singable translation by Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi (1877 - 1944), "Le captif", first published 1912 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Russian (Русский) by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837), "Узник", written 1822
- Go to the text page.

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

[ None yet in the database ]

Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2015-10-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 96