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by Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819 - 1898)
Translation © by Aleksey Berg

Маска
Language: Russian (Русский) 
Our translations:  ENG
В пестроте, в многолюдстве собранья,
Праздным взором скользя без вниманья,
Злою скукой томимый давно,
У колонн встретил я домино.

Протянув свою ручку-малютку,
Она сжала мою не на шутку;
На лице моём жар заиграл,
Но я милой моей не узнал.

Из-под розовой шёлковой маски,
Как две звёздочки, теплились глазки --
И на мне остановленный взор
Выражал и любовь и укор.

Наконец она тихо сказала:
«Я давно, я везде вас исскала» --
Изменил речи трепетный звук,
Я узнал трепет милых мне рук.

О, во имя любви простодушной,
Не снимай этой маски бездушной,
Я боюсь, друг мой милый, любя,
В этот миг я боюсь за тебя.

В пестроте, в многолюдстве собранья
Пусть пройдёт клевета без вниманья,
И любви откровенной слова
Не подслушает злая молва. --

Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST

Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

  • by Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819 - 1898), "Маска", written 1840-5 [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 Ivanovich Taneyev (1856 - 1915), "Маска", op. 34 (7 Стихотворений (7 Stikhotvorenij) = 7 Poems) no. 3 (1911-1912), published 1912 [ voice and piano ], Berlin: Russischer Musikverlag [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • ENG English (Aleksey Berg) , "The mask", copyright © 2019, (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: 24
Word count: 119

The mask
Language: English  after the Russian (Русский) 
As my idle gaze was gliding over
the motley crowd at the ball,
As I was tormented by evil boredom,
I met a masked woman by the colonnade

Holding out her child-like hand,
She squeezed mine, quite deliberately
My face was burning hot,
But I did not recognize my sweetheart.

From under the pink silk mask,
Two little eyes, like starlets, were beaming warmly,
And her gaze arrested on me,
Speaking both of love and reproach.

At last she quietly said:
“I've been looking for you everywhere, forever”
The quivering sound of her voice changed,
And I recognized the tremble of her dear hands.

Oh, in the name of artless love
Do not remove this soulless mask,
I am afraid, my dearest friend, as I am in love,
At this moment, I fear for you.

In the motley crowd of the ball
Let slander pass unnoticed,
And may the words of ingenuous love
Not be overheard by foul gossip.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2019 by Aleksey Berg, (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 Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819 - 1898), "Маска", written 1840-5
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2019-07-21
Line count: 24
Word count: 159

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