Esli vstrečus' s toboj
Il' uvižu tebja,
Čto za trepet, za ogon'
Razol'ëtsja v [grudi]1.

Esli vzgljaneš', duša, --
JA gorju i drožu,
I besčuvstven i nëm
Pred toboju stoju!

Esli molviš' mne čto,
JA na reči tvoi,
Na privety tvoi,
Čto skazat', ne syšču.

A lobzan'jam tvoim, 
A vostorgam živym
Na zemle, u ljudej, 
Vyražen'ja im net!

Deva-radost' duši,
[Ėto žizn' - my živëm!]2
Ne choču ja drugoj 
Žizni v žizni moej!

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Confirmed with А. В. Кольцов, Полное собрание стихотворений, Ленинград, Советский писатель, 1958.

¹ Dyubyuk, Glinka: "душе" ("dushe")
² Glinka: "Эту жизнь мы живём" ("`Etu zhizn' my zhivjom.")

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Text Authorship:

• by Aleksey Vasil'yevich Kol'tsov (1808 - 1842), "Песня", 1827, first published 1839 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Aleksei Vladimirovich Abutkov (1875 - 1945), "Если встречусь с тобой", op. 12 (10 Писен) no. 1 [ voice and piano ], Москва (Moscow), Советвенность Издателя `Симфония' [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Aleksandr Ivanovich Dyubyuk (1812 - 1897), "Если встречусь с тобой" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804 - 1857), "Если встречусь с тобой", 1839 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Nikolai Razumnikovich Kochetov (1864 - 1925), "Если встречусь с тобой" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ilya Aleksandrovich Sats (1875 - 1912), "Если встречусь с тобой" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Vladimir Timofeyevich Sokolov (1830 - 1890), "Если встречусь с тобой" [sung text not yet checked]

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

• ENG English (Johann Winkler) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 71