Traveling Song | The smoke boils like a pillar, the steamship smokes!

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by Nestor Vasil'yevich Kukol'nik (1809 - 1868)

Translation © by Jacob Wilde

Попутная песня

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG

Дым столбом кипит, дымится пароход!
Пестрота, разгул, волненье, ожиданье, нетерпенье!
[Веселится и ликует весь]¹ народ.
И быстрее, шибче воли поезд мчится в чистом поле.

Нет, тайная дума быстрее летит,
И сердце мгновенья считая стучит.
Коварные думы мелькают дорогой,
И шепчешь невольно:
Как долго, как долго?

Не воздух, не зелень страдальца манят.
Там ясные очи так ярко горят.
Так полный блаженства минуты свиданья,
Так сладки надеждой часы расставанья.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ or "Pravoslavny veselitsja nash"

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Nestor Vasil'yevich Kukol'nik (1809 - 1868) [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 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804 - 1857), "Попутная песня", 1840, from Proshchanije S. Peterburgom, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Jacob Wilde) , "Traveling Song", copyright © 2023, (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: 13
Word count: 68

Traveling Song

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

The smoke boils like a pillar, the steamship smokes! 
Multi-coloration, revelry, excitement, expectation, impatience! 
All people enjoy themselves and rejoice. 
And the train races in the clear field faster, quicker than willpower. 

No, a secret thought flies quicker, 
And the heart beats, counting the moments. 
Insidious thoughts appear along the road, 
And you whisper involuntarily: 
How long, how long? 

Neither the air, nor the greenery entices the sufferer. 
Clear eyes burn so brightly there. 
The minutes of rendezvous are so full of bliss, 
The hours of parting are so sweet with hope.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2023 by Jacob Wilde, (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 Nestor Vasil'yevich Kukol'nik (1809 - 1868)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-08-25
Line count: 13
Word count: 92