Text & Translation
Ray of Light
Russian source:
Osip Mandelstam
Ne chuemyy nikem,
Letet’ vsled luchu,
Gde net menya sovsem.
A ty v krugu luchis’ –
Drugogo schast’ya net –
I u zvezdy uchis’
Tomu, chto znachit svet.
On tol’ko tem i luch,
On tol’ko tem i svet,
Chto shopotom moguch
I lepetom sogret.
I ya tebe khochu
Skazat’, chto ya shepch,
Chto shopotom luchu
Tebya, ditya, vruchu...
Ray of Light
English translation ©
Andrew Kahn
Unnoticed by all,
To fly after a ray of light
Where I don't exist at all.
And you shine in a circle -
There's no other happiness -
And learn from a star
The meaning of light.
It is a beam
It is a light
Only through the might of a whisper
And the warmth of babble.
And I want to tell you
what I am whispering,
That with a whisper, my child,
I hand you to the ray of light.
Ray of Light
Russian source:
Osip Mandelstam
Ray of Light
English source:
Andrew Kahn
O, kak zhe ya khochu,
How very much I wish,
Ne chuemyy nikem,
Unnoticed by all,
Letet’ vsled luchu,
To fly after a ray of light
Gde net menya sovsem.
Where I don't exist at all.
A ty v krugu luchis’ –
And you shine in a circle -
Drugogo schast’ya net –
There's no other happiness -
I u zvezdy uchis’
And learn from a star
Tomu, chto znachit svet.
The meaning of light.
On tol’ko tem i luch,
It is a beam
On tol’ko tem i svet,
It is a light
Chto shopotom moguch
Only through the might of a whisper
I lepetom sogret.
And the warmth of babble.
I ya tebe khochu
And I want to tell you
Skazat’, chto ya shepch,
what I am whispering,
Chto shopotom luchu
That with a whisper, my child,
Tebya, ditya, vruchu...
I hand you to the ray of light.
Composer
Elena Langer
Elena Langer (born 1974) is a Russian-born British composer of opera and other contemporary classical music.