Songs

Nyet tolko tot kto znal ('None but the lonely heart')

by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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Text & Translation

Nyet tolko tot kto znal ('None but the lonely heart')
Russian source: Lev Aleksandrovich Mey

Net, tol'ko tot,
kto znal svidan'ja, zhazhdu,
pojmjot, kak ja stradal
i kak ja strazhdu.

Gljazhu ja vdal'...
net sil, tusknejet oko...
Akh, kto menja ljubil
i znal - daleko!

Akh, tol'ko tot,
kto znal svidan'ja zhazhdu,
pojmjot, kak ja stradal
i kak ja strazhdu.

None but the lonely heart
English translation © Philip Ross Bullock

No, only one who has known
What it is to long for one’s beloved
Can know how I have suffered
And how I suffer still.

I gaze into the distant – but my strength fails me,
My sight grows dim…
Ah, the one who loved me
And knew me is far away now!

My breast is all aflame – whoever has known
What it is to long for one’s beloved
Can know how I have suffered
And how I suffer still.

Nyet tolko tot kto znal ('None but the lonely heart')
Russian source: Lev Aleksandrovich Mey

None but the lonely heart
English source: Philip Ross Bullock

Net, tol'ko tot,
No, only one who has known
kto znal svidan'ja, zhazhdu,
What it is to long for one’s beloved
pojmjot, kak ja stradal
Can know how I have suffered
i kak ja strazhdu.
And how I suffer still.

Gljazhu ja vdal'...
I gaze into the distant – but my strength fails me,
net sil, tusknejet oko...
My sight grows dim…
Akh, kto menja ljubil
Ah, the one who loved me
i znal - daleko!
And knew me is far away now!

Akh, tol'ko tot,
My breast is all aflame – whoever has known
kto znal svidan'ja zhazhdu,
What it is to long for one’s beloved
pojmjot, kak ja stradal
Can know how I have suffered
i kak ja strazhdu.
And how I suffer still.

Composer

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. His works are still among the most popular music in the classical repetoire, and he is widely acknowledged as the first Russian composer to make a lasting international…

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