by Aleksey Vasil'yevich Kol'tsov (1808 - 1842)
Translation Singable translation possibly by Constance Bache (1846 - 1903) and possibly by William Stigand, né Stigant (1825 - 1915)

Not a breath of Spring
Language: English  after the Russian (Русский) 
Not a breath of Spring, fragrant and serene,
And upon the mead grass no more was green,
Summer suns no more shed their golden beam,
And the moon no more had a friendly gleam,
Yet, 'mid shiv'ring frost and mists so grey,
In our cot we liv'd, loving night and day.

Nights of raven black, nights all stormy wild,
Like to trains of clouds o'er the sun defiled,
Thro' the murky air wintry breezes rang,
But sweet strains to us magic songs they sang,
ah! Dreams they brought us too, magic dreams and bland,
Far away they bore us to fairyland!

Note: from a Rubinstein score. It is unclear which of the two translators listed on the front page wrote this particular translation.

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Researcher for this page: Harry Joelson

This text was added to the website: 2008-04-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 101