She stood before the holy icon

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by Arseny Arkad'yevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1848 - 1913)

Translation © by Rianne Stam

Она пред иконой стояла святою

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG

Она пред иконой стояла святою;
Скрестилися руки, уста шевелились;
Из глаз ея слёзы одна за другою
По бледным щекам жемчугами катились.

Она повторяла все чьё-то названье,
И взор озарялся молитвенным светом;
И было так много любви и страданья,
Так мало надежды в молении этом!

Она преклонилась и долго лежала,
Прильнув головою к земле безответной,
Как будто в томленьи немом ожидала,
Что голос над нею раздастся приветный.

Но было все тихо в молчании ночи,
Лампада мерцала во мраке тревожном,
И скорбно смотрели Спасителя очи
[На ту, что с моленьем пришла невозможным!]¹

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• S. Rachmaninov

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¹ Rachmaninov: "На очи, просящия о невозможном."

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Text Authorship:

by Arseny Arkad'yevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1848 - 1913), "Молитва", written 1868-1878, first published 1878 [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), "Пред иконой", op. 21 (Двенадцать романсов = Dvenadcat' romansov (Twelve songs)) no. 10 (1902) [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Rianne Stam) , copyright © 2005, (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: 16
Word count: 91

She stood before the holy icon

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

She stood before the holy icon;
She had crossed her hands, her lips moved;
From her eyes, one by one, tears
Rolled like pearls over her pale cheeks.

She repeated the same name over and over,
And her face was lit with the light of prayer;
And there was so much love and suffering,
Yet so little hope in those prayers!

She had bowed down and long remained there,
With her head fixed on the silent ground,
As if she was waiting in mute languour,
For his voice to issue a greeting to her.

But all was quiet in the dead of night,
The candle flickered in the heavy darkness,
And the eyes of the Saviour looked in sorrow
On her eyes, which begged the impossible

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles
"Молитва" = "Prayer"
"Пред иконой" = "Before the icon"

Translator's Note: this is a translation of Rachmaninov's version. With thanks to Elena Pumbo and Vassiliy Tsytsarev.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2005 by Rianne Stam, (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 Arseny Arkad'yevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1848 - 1913), "Молитва", written 1868-1878, first published 1878
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This text was added to the website: 2005-08-08
Line count: 16
Word count: 126