Text & Translation
Drobitsya, i pleshchet, i brizzhet volna ('The wave breaks')
Russian source:
Leo Tolstoy
mne v ochi solenoju vlagoj;
nedvizhno na kamne sizhu ja, polna
dusha bezotchetnoj otvagoj.
Valy za valami, priboj i otboj,
i pena ikh grebni pokryla.
O, more, kogo zhe mne vyzvat' na boj,
izvedat' voskresshie sily?
Pochujalo serdce, chto zhizn' khorosha,
vy, volny, razmykali gore,
ot groma i pleska prosnulas' dusha –
srodni ej shumjashhee more!
The wave breaks
English translation ©
Philip Ross Bullock
Into my eyes with its salty spray;
Motionless, I sit in the rock, and my soul
Is full of inexplicable valour.
Wave upon wave, ebb and flow,
And their crests are covered in foam.
Oh sea, who can I challenge to a contest
To prove my resurgent powers?
My heart senses the grandeur of life,
You, oh waves, have dispelled the grief,
The thunder and splashing has woken my soul –
Akin to the roaring sea!
Drobitsya, i pleshchet, i brizzhet volna ('The wave breaks')
Russian source:
Leo Tolstoy
The wave breaks
English source:
Philip Ross Bullock
Drobitsja, i pleshhet i bryzzhet volna
The wave surges and breaks and splashes
mne v ochi solenoju vlagoj;
Into my eyes with its salty spray;
nedvizhno na kamne sizhu ja, polna
Motionless, I sit in the rock, and my soul
dusha bezotchetnoj otvagoj.
Is full of inexplicable valour.
Valy za valami, priboj i otboj,
Wave upon wave, ebb and flow,
i pena ikh grebni pokryla.
And their crests are covered in foam.
O, more, kogo zhe mne vyzvat' na boj,
Oh sea, who can I challenge to a contest
izvedat' voskresshie sily?
To prove my resurgent powers?
Pochujalo serdce, chto zhizn' khorosha,
My heart senses the grandeur of life,
vy, volny, razmykali gore,
You, oh waves, have dispelled the grief,
ot groma i pleska prosnulas' dusha –
The thunder and splashing has woken my soul –
srodni ej shumjashhee more!
Akin to the roaring sea!
Composer
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, best know for his orchestral compositions and his symphonic suite Scheherazade. He believed in developing a nationalistic style of classical music, and was influenced by Russian folk song…
Poet
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received multiple nominations for Nobel Prize in…