Beyond my window, fierce and wild

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by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921)

Translation © by David Angell

О, как безумно за окном

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG ENG FRE

О, как безумно за окном
Ревёт, бушует буря злая,
Несутся тучи, льют дождём,
И ветер воет, замирая!
Ужасна ночь! В такую ночь
Мне жаль людей, лишённых крова,
Сожаленье гонит прочь -
В объятья холода сырого!
Бороться с мраком и дождём,
Страдалцев участь разделяя...
О, как безумно за окном
Бушует ветер, изнывая!

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: the poem is preceded by the following epigraph:

Вы, бедные, нагие несчастливцы.
Лир

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921), no title, written 1899, appears in Стихотворения 1897—1903 гг, не вошедшие в основное собрание, in Разные стихотворения, no. 122, first published 1899 [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 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), "Буря", op. 127 no. 5 [ soprano, violin, and piano ], from Семь Стихотворений А. Блока: вокально-инструментальная сюита = Sem' stikhotvorenij A. Bloka, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "Буря", op. 9 no. 5, published 1972 [ voice and orchestra ], from Shest' stikhotvorenij Aleksandra Bloka, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "Буря", op. 9a no. 5, published 1972 [ voice and piano ], from Shest' stikhotvorenij Aleksandra Bloka, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English [singable] (David Angell) , copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Anne Evans) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2008, (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: 50

Beyond my window, fierce and wild

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

Beyond my window, fierce and wild,
The savage tempest roars and rages,
With scudding stormclouds, streaming rain
And howling wind that fades to silence!
An awful night!  On such a night
I pity those bereft of shelter:
A deep compassion drives me forth
To share the winter's damp embraces!...
To strive against the gloom and rain,
At one with outcasts, doomed to suffer...
Beyond my window, fierce and wild,
The raging wind sinks in exhaustion!

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Буря" = "The Tempest"

Text Authorship:

Singable translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2005 by David Angell, (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 Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921), no title, written 1899, appears in Стихотворения 1897—1903 гг, не вошедшие в основное собрание, in Разные стихотворения, no. 122, first published 1899
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2005-05-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 75