V syom grobe [mily'j]1 chizhik moj!
Prirody' miloe tvoren`e,
Iz mirnoj oblosti zemnoj
On uletel, kak snoviden`e.

On dlya lyubvi na svete zhil,
On nezhnoj pesenkoj [otvetnoj]2,
Za lasku nezhnuyu platil,
I podletal k ruke privetnoj.

No v svete strashno i lyubit`:
Emu by'l dan druzhok kry'laty'j;
Chtob milogo ne perezhit`,
On v grobe skry'lsya ot utraty'.

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¹ Rachmaninov: "верный"
² Rachmaninov: "приветной"

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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