Songs
Vozrozhdenie, 'Rebirth'
by Dmitri Shostakovich From Four Romances on Poems by Pushkin (1936) Op. 46
Text & Translation
Vozrozhdenie, 'Rebirth'
Russian source:
Alexander Pushkin
Kartinu geniia chernit
I svoi risunok bezzakonnyi
Nad nei bessmyslenno chertit.
No kraski chuzhdye s letami
Spadaiut vetkhoi cheshuei;
Sozdanye geniia pred nami
Vykhodit s prezhnei krasotoi.
Tak ischezaiut zabluzhden’ia
S izmuchennoi dushi moei,
I voznikaiut v nei viden’ia
Pervonachal’nykh, chistykh dnei.
Rebirth
English translation ©
Philip Ross Bullock
Scrawls over a painting made by a genius,
Tracing his own illicit sketch
Over it without reason.
But with the years, these alien colours
Fall away like decrepit scales;
And the creation of that genius
Appears before us in its former beauty.
In the same way, delusions disappear
From my anguished soul,
And in their place, visions arise within it,
Visions of pure and primal days.
Vozrozhdenie, 'Rebirth'
Russian source:
Alexander Pushkin
Rebirth
English source:
Philip Ross Bullock
Khudozhnik-varvar kist’iu sonnoi
With his lethargic brush, an artist-barbarian
Kartinu geniia chernit
Scrawls over a painting made by a genius,
I svoi risunok bezzakonnyi
Tracing his own illicit sketch
Nad nei bessmyslenno chertit.
Over it without reason.
No kraski chuzhdye s letami
But with the years, these alien colours
Spadaiut vetkhoi cheshuei;
Fall away like decrepit scales;
Sozdanye geniia pred nami
And the creation of that genius
Vykhodit s prezhnei krasotoi.
Appears before us in its former beauty.
Tak ischezaiut zabluzhden’ia
In the same way, delusions disappear
S izmuchennoi dushi moei,
From my anguished soul,
I voznikaiut v nei viden’ia
And in their place, visions arise within it,
Pervonachal’nykh, chistykh dnei.
Visions of pure and primal days.
Composer
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich was a Russian composer and pianist. He achieved fame in the Soviet Union, although later developed a more complex and difficult relationship with the government. As a composer, he combined a variety of different musical…
Poet
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (6 June 1799 – 10 February 1837) was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin was born…