by Mikhail Afanasievich Bulgakov (1891 - 1940)
Translation © by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020)

Боги, Боги мои!
Language: Russian (Русский) 
Our translations:  ENG
Боги, Боги мои!
Как грустна вечерняя земля!
Как таинственны туманы над болотами!
Кто блуждал в этих туманах,
Кто много страдал перед смертью,
Кто летел над этой землёй,
Неся на себе непосильный груз,
Тот это знает. 
 
Боги, Боги мои!
Как грустна вечерняя земля!
Это знает уставший.
И он без сожаления
Покидает туманы земли,
Её болотца и реки,
Он отдаётся с лёгким сердцем
В руки смерти,1
Он отдаётся с лёгким сердцем
В руки смерти,
Зная, что только она одна
Успокоит его.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   D. Smirnov •   D. Smirnov 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Smirnov adds "Requiem aeterna dona eis, Domine..."

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 or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Eternal refuge", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Dmitri Smirnov

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-27
Line count: 20
Word count: 80

Eternal refuge
Language: English  after the Russian (Русский) 
O Gods, O my Gods! 
O how sad, how sad the evening earth!
How mysterious are the mists above the swamp! 
He who has wandered in these mists,
Who has much suffered before his death,
Who has flown over this earth
With burdens too heavy on his back,
That man knows this.
 
O Gods, O my Gods! 
O how sad, how sad the evening earth!
The weary man knows this.
And then without any regret 
he leaves the mists of the earth,
And its swamps, and its rivers,
He gives himself with a light heart 
Into the hands of death,1
He gives himself with a light heart 
Into the hands of death,
Knowing that it alone
Will bring him peace.

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Smirnov adds "Requiem aeterna dona eis, Domine..."

Text Authorship:

Based on:

 
Researcher for this page: Dmitri Smirnov

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-27
Line count: 20
Word count: 121