Songs
Ona, kak polden', khorosha, ‘She is as fair as midday’
by Sergei Rachmaninov From Twelve Romances (1896) Op. 14
Text & Translation
Ona, kak polden', khorosha, ‘She is as fair as midday’
Russian source:
Nikolai Minsky
Ona zagadochnej polnochi.
U nej neplakavshija ochi
I nestradavshaja dusha.
A mne, ch'ja zhizn' bor'ba i gore,
Po nej tomit'sja suzhdeno. O!
Tak vechno plachusheje more
V bezmolvnyj bereg vljubleno.
Ona, kak polden', khorosha, ‘She is as fair as midday’
English translation ©
Philip Ross Bullock
And more mysterious than midnight.
Her eyes have known no tears,
And her soul has known no suffering.
And I, whose life is but strife and woe,
And fated to languish for her. Oh!
Just as the eternally weeping sea
Is in love with the silent shore.
Ona, kak polden', khorosha, ‘She is as fair as midday’
Russian source:
Nikolai Minsky
Ona, kak polden', khorosha, ‘She is as fair as midday’
English source:
Philip Ross Bullock
Ona, kak polden', khorosha,
She is as fair as midday,
Ona zagadochnej polnochi.
And more mysterious than midnight.
U nej neplakavshija ochi
Her eyes have known no tears,
I nestradavshaja dusha.
And her soul has known no suffering.
A mne, ch'ja zhizn' bor'ba i gore,
And I, whose life is but strife and woe,
Po nej tomit'sja suzhdeno. O!
And fated to languish for her. Oh!
Tak vechno plachusheje more
Just as the eternally weeping sea
V bezmolvnyj bereg vljubleno.
Is in love with the silent shore.
Composer
Sergei Rachmaninov
Sergei Rachmaninov was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor of the late Romantic period.
