At the grave | When I buried you, grieving and mourning

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by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921)

Translation Singable translation © by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020)

Хоронил я тебя, и, тоскуя

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG

Хоронил я тебя, и, тоскуя,
Я растил на могиле цветы,
Но в лазури, звеня и ликуя,
Трепетала, блаженная, ты. 
 
И к родимой земле я клонился,
И уйти за тобою хотел,
Но, когда я рыдал и молился,
Звонкий смех твой ко мне долетел. 
 
Похоронные слёзы напрасны –-
Ты трепещешь, смеёшься, жива!
И растут на могиле прекрасной
Не цветы –- огневые слова!

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921), no title, first published 1902 [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 Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "У могилы", op. 9 no. 2, published 1972 [ voice and orchestra ], from Shest' stikhotvorenij Aleksandra Bloka, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "У могилы", op. 9a no. 2, published 1972 [ voice and piano ], from Shest' stikhotvorenij Aleksandra Bloka, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "At the grave", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Dmitri Smirnov

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 60

At the grave

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

When I buried you, grieving and mourning 
I was planting the flowers at your grave. 
But I saw you were soaring in azure –-  
So triumphant, and vibrant, and blessed.   

And then I bent my knees to the ground,
And I wanted to follow you there, 
But amidst of my weeping and praying 
I was hearing your laugh in my ear.   

All the funeral tears are in vain,
You are fluttering, laughing, alive, 
And your beautiful tomb all is covered 
Not with flowers –-  but with glowing words!

Text Authorship:

Singable translation by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "At the grave", copyright ©, (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 Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921), no title, first published 1902
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-02-08
Line count: 12
Word count: 88