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Безумных лет угасшее веселье мне тяжело, как смутное похмелье. Но как вино печаль минувших дней в моей душе чем старе, тем сильней. Мой путь уныл. Сулит мне труд и горе грядущего волнуемое море. Но не хочу, о други, умирать! Я жить хочу, чтоб мыслить и страдать. И ведаю, мне будут наслажденья меж горестей, забот и треволненья; Порой опять гармонией упьюсь, над вымыслом слезами обольюсь. И может быть, на мой закат печальный блеснет любовь улыбкою прощальной.
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Note on TransliterationsAuthorship
- by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837) [author's text not yet checked 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 Igor Fyodorovich Belza (1904 - 1994), "Элегия" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leslie Crabtree (b. 1941), "Элегия", 2007 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by César Antonovich Cui (1835 - 1918), "Элегия", op. 57 (Двадцать пять стихотворении Пушкина = Dvadcat' pjat' stikhotvorenii Pushkina (25 Poems of Pushkin)) no. 18 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (1880 - 1951), "Элегия", op. 52 no. 3 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "Элегия", op. 20 no. 5, published 1976 [ voice, flute, percussion, violin, and cello ], from Pechal' minuvshikh dnej, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Czech (Čeština), a translation possibly by Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859 - 1951); composed by Josef Bohuslav Foerster.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Dmitri Smirnov) , "Elegy", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Élégie", copyright © 2017, (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: 14
Word count: 75
The vanished joy of my crazy years
Is as heavy as gloomy hang-over.
But, like wine, the sorrow of past days
Is stronger with time.
My path is sad. The waving sea of the future
Promises me only toil and sorrow.
But, O my friends, I do not wish to die,
I want to live - to think and suffer.
I know, I'll have some pleasures
Among woes, cares and troubles.
Sometimes I'll be drunk with harmony again,
Or will weep over my visions,
And it's possible, at my sorrowful decline,
Love will flash with a parting smile.
Authorship
- Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2008 by Dmitri Smirnov, (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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- a text in Russian (Русский) by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 - 1837)
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 99