by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893)

Strashnaja minuta
Language: Russian (Русский) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
Ty vnimajesh', vniz skloniv golovku,
ochi opustiv i tikho vzdykhaja!
Ty ne znajesh', kak mgnoven'ja
`eti strashny dlja menja
i polny znachen'ja,
kak menja smushchajet
`eto molchan'e.
Ja prigovor tvoj zhdu,
ja zhdu reshen'ja - 
il' nozh ty mne v serdce vonzish',
il' raj mne otkrojesh'.

Akh, ne terzaj menja,
skazhi lish' slovo!
Ot chego zhe robkoje priznan'e
v serdce tak tebe zapalo gluboko?
Ty vzdykhajesh', ty drozhish' i plachesh';
il' slova ljubvi v ustakh tvoikh
nemejut, ili ty menja zhalejesh', ne ljubish'?
Ja prigovor tvoj zhdu, ja zhdu reshen'ja -
il' nozh ty mne v serdce vonzish',
il' raj mne otkrojesh'.

Akh, vnemnli zhe mol'be mojej,
otvechaj, otvechaj skorej!
ja prigovor tvoj zhdu, ja zhdu reshen'ja!

Notes (provided by Laura Prichard):
Lines 10 and 11 of the first two stanzas: "или… или" is more common in modern Russian, meaning “either … or”


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Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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

  • ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Fearful minute", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Instant effrayant", copyright © 2016, (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: 115