The serf | Lifting a holy banner with my right hand

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by Afanasy Afanas'yevich Fet (1820 - 1892)

Translation © by Sergey Rybin

Оброчник

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG

Хоругвь священную подяв своей десной,
Иду.
И тронулась за мной толпа живая,
И потянулись все по просеке лесной,
И я блажен и горд, святыню воспевая.
Пою и помыслам неведом детский страх:
Пускай на пенье мне ответят воем звери,
С святыней над челом, и песнью на устах,
С трудом, но я дойду до вожделенной двери.

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Afanasy Afanas'yevich Fet (1820 - 1892), "Оброчник", written 1889, first published 1890 [author's text not yet checked 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), "Оброчник", op. 34 (Четырнадцать романсов = Chetyrnadcat' romansov (Fourteen songs)) no. 11 (1912) [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sergey Rybin) , "The serf", copyright © 2020, (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: 9
Word count: 54

The serf

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

Lifting a holy banner with my right hand
I move.
And the whole lively crowd moves with me,
Stretching through the wood's clearing,
Together with me, blissfully and proudly glorifying the holy relic with chants.
I sing and my thoughts are free from childish fear:
Forest beasts may respond to my singing with howling,
With the holy relic above my brow, with a song upon my lips,
With perseverance, I'll reach the tantalizing door of paradise.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2020 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 Afanasy Afanas'yevich Fet (1820 - 1892), "Оброчник", written 1889, first published 1890
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2020-11-23
Line count: 9
Word count: 76