DAWN KRYSTAL WILLIAMS

COMPOSER AND MEZZO-CONTRALTO
PYAT' PESEN
PYAT' PESEN
Solo Voice
Solo Voice
TEXT
Russian
TEXT
Russian
TRANSLATION
English
TRANSLATION
English
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.
– Poem by Mikhail Lermontov
– Transliteration and translation by Dawn K. Williams