Songs

O, landysh, otchego tak raduesh’ ty vzory!
O, lily of the valley, what makes you such a delight to the eye!
Drugie est’ tsvety, roskoshnei i pyshnei,
There are other flowers, more lavish and more splendid,
I yarche kraski v nikh, i veselei uzory,
Their colours may be brighter, and their patterns cheerier,
No prelesti v nikh net tainstvennoi tvoei.
But they have nothing of your mysterious charm.

V chyom taina etikh char? Chto ty dushe veshchaesh’?
What is the mystery of your allure? What do you read in souls?
Chem manish’ tak k sebe i serdtse veselish’?
How do you draw us in and gladden our hearts?
Il’ radostei bylykh ty prizrak voskreshaesh’!
Do you resurrect the ghosts of bygone joys?
Ili blazhensto nam gryadushchee sulish’?
Or promise us future bliss?

Ne znayu. No menya tvoye blagoukhan’e,
I do not know. But your fragrance,
Kak vinnaya struya, laskaet i manit,
Like an outpouring of wine, caresses and entices,
Kak muzyka, ono stesnyaet mne dykhan’e
Like music, it calms my anxious breath,
I, kak ogon’ lyubvi, pitaet zhar lanit.
And like the flame of love, feeds the fire of my cheeks.