Tell me, Desert Draftsman | Tell me, Desert Draftsman

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by Osip Emil'evich Mandelstam (1891 - 1938)

Translation © by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020)

Скажи мне, чертёжник пустыни

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG

Скажи мне, чертёжник пустыни,
Сыпучих песков геометр,
Ужели безудержность линий
Сильнее, чем дующий ветр?
— Меня не касается трепет
Его иудейских забот —
Он опыт из лепета лепит
И лепет из опыта пьёт.

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Osip Emil'evich Mandelstam (1891 - 1938), no title, written 1933, appears in Восьмистишия (Vos'mistishija), no. 9 [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 Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "Скажи мне, чертёжник пустыни", op. 53 no. 4, published 1989 [ soprano, flute, horn, harp, and string trio ], from Восьмистишия = Vos'mistishija, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Tell me, Desert Draftsman", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Dmitri Smirnov

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-22
Line count: 8
Word count: 33

Tell me, Desert Draftsman

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

Tell me, Desert Draftsman,
Geometer of the quicksands,
Is it true, that unrestrained lines
Are more powerful than the blowing wind?
-- I don't care about the trembling
Of his Judaic troubles. --
He shapes experience from babble,
And drinks babble from the experience.

Text Authorship:

by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "Tell me, Desert Draftsman", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Russian (Русский) by Osip Emil'evich Mandelstam (1891 - 1938), no title, written 1933, appears in Восьмистишия (Vos'mistishija), no. 9
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-22
Line count: 8
Word count: 42