On the death of a linnet | In this little coffin lies my dear linnet

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by Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (1783 - 1852)

Translation © by Sergey Rybin

На смерть чижика

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG

В сём гробе [милый]¹ чижик мой!
Природы милое творенье,
Из мирной облости земной
Он улетел, как сновиденье.

Он для любви на свете жил,
Он нежной песенкой [ответной]²,
За ласку нежную платил,
И подлетал к руке приветной.

Но в свете страшно и любить:
Ему был дан дружок крылатый;
Чтоб милого не пережить,
Он в гробе скрылся от утраты.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• S. Rachmaninov

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Rachmaninov: "верный"
² Rachmaninov: "приветной"

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (1783 - 1852), "На смерть чижика", written 1819, first published 1827 [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 Sergei Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943), "На смерть чижика", op. 21 (Двенадцать романсов = Dvenadcat' romansov (Twelve songs)) no. 8 (1902) [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sergey Rybin) , "On the death of a linnet", copyright © 2018, (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: 60

On the death of a linnet

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

In this little coffin lies my [dear]¹ linnet, 
A darling creation of nature, 
From the peaceful earthly realm
He flew away, like a dream. 

He lived for love in this world, 
With his sweet chirping song [of response]²
He repaid me for my caring affection
When he flew towards my welcoming hand. 

But even to love is perilous in this life.
He had a winged tender friend;
So as not to outlive a dear one
He escaped his loss in a coffin.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Rachmaninov: "faithful"
² Rachmaninov: "of greeting"

Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2018 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.
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Based on:

a text in Russian (Русский) by Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (1783 - 1852), "На смерть чижика", written 1819, first published 1827
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-02-26
Line count: 12
Word count: 84