Stalactites | I love the grotto where with smoky light

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by Lev L'vovich Kobylinsky (1889 - 1947), as Ellis

Translation © by Sergey Rybin

Сталактиты

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

Our translations: ENG ENG

Мне дорог грот, где дымным светом
Мой факел сумрак багрянит,
Где эхо грустное звучит 
На вздох невольный мой ответом;

Мне дорог грот, где сталактиты, 
Как горьких слёз замёрзший ряд,
На сводах каменных висят, 
Где капли падают на плиты.

Пусть вечно в сумраке печальном 
Царит торжественный покой,
И сталактиты предо мной
Висят убором погребальным...

Увы! Любви моей давно
замёрзли горестные слёзы, 
Но всё же сердцу суждено
Рыдать и в зимние морозы.

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Lev L'vovich Kobylinsky (1889 - 1947), as Ellis [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Les stalactites", appears in Les Solitudes
- 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):

by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Taneyev (1850 - 1918), "Сталактиты" [sung text not yet checked]
by Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev (1856 - 1915), "Сталактиты", op. 26 no. 6 (1908), published 1909 [ voice and piano ], from 10 Стихотворений из сборника Эллисъ «Иммортели» (10 Stikhotvorenij iz sbornika Ellis 'Immorteli') = 10 Poems from Ellis's Immortelles, no. 6, Berlin : Russischer Musikverlag [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sergey Rybin) , "Stalactites", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Aleksey Berg) , "Stalactites", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 70

Stalactites

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

I love the grotto where with smoky light
My torch crimsons the gloom,
Where a mournful echo sounds
In response to my unwitting sigh;

I love the grotto where stalactites,
Like frozen rows of bitter tears,
Hang from the stone arches
And waterdrops fall upon the slates.

May forever in the sorrowful darkness
Reign the solemn peace,
And stalactites hang before me
Like a funereal adornment...

Alas! Long since have frozen
The bitter tears of my love,
But the heart is destined to sob
Even in the cold of winter.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2017 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 Lev L'vovich Kobylinsky (1889 - 1947), as Ellis
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Les stalactites", appears in Les Solitudes
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-08-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 90