What grasshopper-clocks are singing | What grasshopper-clocks are singing

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by Osip Emil'evich Mandelstam (1891 - 1938)

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

Что поют часы‑кузнечик

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: ENG

Что поют часы-кузнечик,
Лихорадка шелестит
И шуршит сухая печка —
Это красный шёлк горит.

Что зубами мыши точат
Жизни тоненькое дно, —
Это ласточка и дочка
Отвязала мой челнок,

Что на крыше дождь бормочет —
Это чёрный шёлк горит,
Но черёмуха услышит
И на дне морском простит.

Потому что смерть невинна,
И ничем нельзя помочь,
Что в горячке соловьиной
Сердце теплое ещё.

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

by Osip Emil'evich Mandelstam (1891 - 1938), written 1918, appears in Tristia, first published 1922 [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 Elena Olegovna Firsova (b. 1950), "Что поют часы-кузнечик", op. 22 no. 4, published 1979, first performed 1981 [ soprano and chamber orchestra ], from cantata Tristia, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "What grasshopper-clocks are singing", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Dmitri Smirnov

This text was added to the website: 2008-02-29
Line count: 16
Word count: 62

What grasshopper‑clocks are singing

Language: English after the Russian (Русский)

What grasshopper-clocks are singing --
Fever is murmuring mad,
And the withered stove is rustling
Like a silk that's burning red.

What the teeth of mice are nibbling
The slim-bottomed life to naught --
Is the swallow or her sibling
That cut loose my wretched boat.

Rain on tiles bubbles like a burning
Silk of black, but cherry tree
Will be hearing and forgiving
At the bottom of the sea.

Death is innocent, therefore
There is nothing that can heal
In that nightingale's fever
Beating heart that is warm still.

Text Authorship:

Singable translation by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "What grasshopper-clocks are singing", 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), written 1918, appears in Tristia, first published 1922
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-03-06
Line count: 16
Word count: 88