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PYAT’ PESEN – VYKHOZHU (I Am Starting Out)

(Solo Voice)

TEXT AND TRANSLATION

1

Vykhozhu odin ya na dorogu;

I am starting out alone on the road;

Skvoz’ tuman kremnistyi put’ blestit;

The flinty path shines through the fog;

Noch’ tikha. Pustynya vnemlet bogu,

The night is silent. The desert listens to God,

I zvezda s zvezdoyu govorit.

And star speaks with star.

2

V nebesakh torzhestvenno i chudno!

The heavens are all solemnity and wonder!

Spit zemlya v siyan’e golubom...

The earth sleeps enveloped in blue...

Chto zhe mne tak bol’no i tak trudno?

What is it that pains and troubles me?

Zhdu l’ chego? zhaleyu li o chom?

Do I harbor hopes? or forgotten regrets? 

3

Uzh ne zhdu ot zhizni nichego ya,

I hope for nothing from life,

I ne zhal’ mne proshlogo nichut’;

I regret nothing from the past;

Ya ischu svobody i pokoya!

I seek only freedom and rest!

Ya b khotel zabyt’sya i zasnut’!

I wish to forget and to sleep!    

4

No ne tem kholodnym snom mogily...

But not that cold dream of the tomb...

Ya b zhelal naveki tak zasnut’,

I wish to sleep forever,

Chtob v grudi dremali zhizni sily,

With my life force dozing in my bosom,

Chtob dysha vzdymalas’ tikho grud’;

Rising and falling with each breath;

5

Chtob vsyu noch’, ves’ den’ moi slukh leleya,

Day and night, my ear would cherish

Pro lyubov’ mne sladkii golos pel,

A sweet voice singing to me of love,

Nado mnoi chtob vechno zeleneya

And ever green above me

Tyomnyi dub sklonyalsya i shumel.

A dark oak would bend and rustle.

– Transliteration and translation by Dawn K. Williams