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В темном аде, под [землею], Тени грешные томятся; Стонут девы, плачут жены, И тоскуют, и крушатся... Всё о том, что не доходят Вести в адские пределы -2 Есть ли небо голубое? Есть ли свет ещё там белый? [И на]3 свете -- церкви божьи И иконы золотые, И как прежде, за станками, Ткут ли девы молодые?
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Tchaikovsky: "zemlej"
2 Tchaikovsky adds the line: "Zheny plachut, stonut: "
3 Tchaikovsky: "Jest' li v"
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Note on TransliterationsAuthorship:
- by Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov (1821 - 1897), no title, written 1860, appears in Новогреческие песни (Novogrecheskije pesni), no. 30 [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 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893), "Новогреческая песня", op. 16 (Шесть романсов = Shest' romansov (Six romances)) no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Lyle Neff) , "Neo-Greek Song", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , 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: 12
Word count: 54
In dark hell, under the earth, ghosts of sinners are languishing; maidens are moaning, wives are weeping and pining, and are afflicted... all about the fact that news does not reach into the boundaries of hell -- [the wives are weeping, moaning]: is there a pale-blue sky? Does the wide world still exist there? Are there in the world churches of God and golden icons, and do young maidens weave at looms as before?
Authorship:
- Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2005 by Lyle Neff, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in Russian (Русский) by Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov (1821 - 1897), no title, written 1860, appears in Новогреческие песни (Novogrecheskije pesni), no. 30
This text was added to the website: 2005-05-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 73