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PYAT’ PESEN – KOGDA (When)

(Solo Voice)

TEXT AND TRANSLATION

Kogda volnuetsya zholteyuschaya niva

When the yellow-turning field is disturbed

I svezhii les shumit pri zvuke veterka,

And the fresh forest rustles with the sound of a breeze,

I pryachetsya v sadu malinovaya sliva

And a crimson plum is hidden in the garden

Pod ten’yu sladostnoi zelonogo listka;

Beneath the shadow of a sweet green leaf;

Kogda rosoi obryzgannyi dushistoi,

When, sprinkled with fragrant dew,

Rumyanym vecherom il’ utra v chas zlatoi,

In the rosy evening or the golden dawn,

Iz-pod kusta mne laidysh serebristyi

From under a bush a silvery lily

Privetlivo kivaet golovoi;

Nods genially at me;

Kogda studyonyi klyuch igraet po ovragu

When the icy cold stream frolics on the ravine

I, pogruzhaya mysl’ v kakoi-to smutnyi son,

And, immersing thought in a vague dream,

Lepechet mne tainstvennuyu sagu

Murmurs to me the mysterious saga

Pro mirnyi krai, otkuda mchitsya on,—

Of the peaceful lands whence it came,—

Togda smiryaetsya dushi moei trevoga,

Then anxiety is released from my soul,

Togda raskhodyatsya morschiny na chele,—

Then lines on my brow disappear,—

I schast’e ya mogu postignut’ na zemle,

And I can perceive happiness on the earth,

I v nebesakh ya vizhu boga...

And in the heavens I see God...

– Transliteration and translation by Dawn K. Williams