Songs
2. Ya dumal, serdtse pozabïlo 'My heart, I fancied it was over'
by Benjamin Britten From Ekho poeta, 'The poet's echo' (1965) Op. 76
Text & Translation
2. Ya dumal, serdtse pozabïlo 'My heart, I fancied it was over'
Russian source:
Alexander Pushkin
Sposobnost´ lyogkuyu stradat´
Ya govoril: tomu, chto bïlo,
Uzh ne bïvat´! Uzh ne bïvat´!
Proshli vostorgi, i pechali, i pechali,
I lyogkovernïye mechtï …
No vot, no vot opyat´ zatrepetali
Pred moshchnoy vlast´yu krasotï.
I thought my heart had forgotten
English translation ©
Philip Ross Bullock
The ease with which it suffered pain,
I once would say: “what’s passed is passed,
Never to come again! Never to come again!
Delight and sorrow have had their day,
Along with dreams so easily believed…”
Yet once again they begin to tremble
When faced with beauty’s mighty power.
2. Ya dumal, serdtse pozabïlo 'My heart, I fancied it was over'
Russian source:
Alexander Pushkin
I thought my heart had forgotten
English source:
Philip Ross Bullock
Ya dumal, serdtse pozabïlo
I thought my heart had long forgotten
Sposobnost´ lyogkuyu stradat´
The ease with which it suffered pain,
Ya govoril: tomu, chto bïlo,
I once would say: “what’s passed is passed,
Uzh ne bïvat´! Uzh ne bïvat´!
Never to come again! Never to come again!
Proshli vostorgi, i pechali, i pechali,
Delight and sorrow have had their day,
I lyogkovernïye mechtï …
Along with dreams so easily believed…”
No vot, no vot opyat´ zatrepetali
Yet once again they begin to tremble
Pred moshchnoy vlast´yu krasotï.
When faced with beauty’s mighty power.
Composer
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music,…
Poet
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (6 June 1799 – 10 February 1837) was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin was born…