Уснуть бы мне навек в траве, как в колыбели,
как я ребёнком спал в те солнечные дни,
когда в лучах полуденных звенели
веселых жаворонков трели и пели мне они:
,,Усни, усни, усни.``
И крылья пестрых мух с причудливой
окраской на венчиках цветов дрожали, как огни,
и шум дерев казался чудной сказкой;
мой сон лелея, с тихой лаской баюкали они:
,,Усни, усни, усни.``
И убегая вдаль, как волны золотые,
давали мне приют в задумчивой тени,
под кущей верб, поля мои, поля родные;
склонив колосья наливные, шептали мне они:
,,Усни, усни, усни.``
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Note on TransliterationsText Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Hans Schmidt (1854 - 1923) ; composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Jennifer Gliere) , "Death", copyright © 2017, (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: 15
Word count: 90
I would fall asleep in the grass forever, as I slept a cradle as a babe,
How I slept on those sunny days,
When in the midday sun
Cheerful larks’ trills sang out to me:
"Sleep, sleep, sleep!"
And the variegated wings of flies
Trembled like tiny lights on the flowers,
And the rustle of the trees seemed a wonderful fairy tale;
The trees nursed me tenderly and sang me a lullaby:
"Sleep, sleep, sleep!"
My native fields,
Stretched far and wide like golden waves,
Willows sheltered me in shadow,
And bowing, ripe ears of corn whispered to me:
"Sleep, sleep, sleep!"