by Osip Emil'evich Mandelstam (1891 - 1938)
Translation © by Richard Shaw

Смутно‑дышащими листьями
Language: Russian (Русский) 
Our translations:  ENG
Смутно-дышащими листьями
Чёрный ветер шелестит,
И трепещущая ласточка
В тёмном небе круг чертит.
 
Тихо спорят в сердце ласковом
Умирающем моём
Наступающие сумерки
С догорающим лучом.
 
И над лесом вечереющем
Встала медная луна;
Отчего так мало музыки
И такая тишина?

Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST

Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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

  • ENG English (Richard Shaw) , title 1: "Through faintly breathing leaves", 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: 12
Word count: 39

Through faintly breathing leaves
Language: English  after the Russian (Русский) 
Through faintly breathing leaves
The black wind rustles,
And a quivering swallow
Draws a circle in the darkened sky. 
 
There is a quiet argument
In my tender dying heart
Between the approaching twilight
And the fading ray of light.
 
And over the evening forest
A bronze moon has risen;
Why is there so little music
And such silence?

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © 2008 by Richard Shaw, (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: 

Based on:

 

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-22
Line count: 12
Word count: 58