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Я был у ней; она сказала: «Люблю тебя, мой милый друг!» Но эту тайну от подруг Хранить мне строго завещала. Я был у ней; на прелесть злата Клялась меня не променять; Ко мне лишь страстию пылать, Меня любить, любить, как брата. [Я был у ней; я с уст прелестной Счастливое забвенье пил И всё земное позабыл У девичьей груди прелестной.]1 Я был у ней; я вечно буду С её душой душою жить; Пускай она мне изменит — Но я изменником не буду.
S. Rachmaninov sets stanzas 1-2, 4
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with А. В. Кольцов, Полное собрание стихотворений, Ленинград, Советский писатель, 1958.
1 Dyubyuk:Я был у ней, и муки страсти У ног ее я позабыл. И, как дитя, покорен был Ее волшебно сладкой власти!
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Note on TransliterationsText Authorship:
- by Aleksey Vasil'yevich Kol'tsov (1808 - 1842), no title, written 1829 [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 Nikolay Grigorevich Derviz (1837 - 1880), "Я был у ней", 1863 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aleksandr Ivanovich Dyubyuk (1812 - 1897), "Я был у ней" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Aleksandr Borisovich Matyukhin (b. 1947), "Я был у ней" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sergei Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943), "Я был у ней", op. 14 (Двенадцать романсов = Dvenadcat' romansov (Twelve songs)) no. 4 (1896), stanzas 1-2,4 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Nikolay Petrovich Trubetskoy (1828 - 1900), "Я был у ней", 1860 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Anton Bespalov) (Rianne Stam) , "I was with her", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 83
I was with her; she said to me: "I love you, my dearest friend!" But she strictly implored me to keep this secret from her girlfriend. I was with her, not for golden riches she swore to trade me; only to me to be afire with passion, to love me, love me like a brother. [... ... ... ...] I was with her; I will always live with her soul, her soul. Let her betray me, but I will be no traitor.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Russian (Русский) to English copyright © by Anton Bespalov and Rianne Stam, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf.
Based on:
- a text in Russian (Русский) by Aleksey Vasil'yevich Kol'tsov (1808 - 1842), no title, written 1829
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 78