Pesn' Zemfiry (Pushkin, set by P. Tchaikovsky) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


Aleko:
 Ili pod sen'ju dymnoj kushchi
 Cygana dikogo rasskaz?

[...]¹

Solo (Zemfira):
 Staryj muzh, groznyj muzh, 
 Rezh' menja, zhgi menja:
 Ja tverda; ne bojus' 
 [Ni nozha, ni ognja]².
 Nenavizhu tebja,
 Preziraju tebja;
 Ja drugogo ljublju,
 Umiraju ljubja.

Aleko:
 Molchi. Mne pen'je nadojelo,
 Ja dikikh pesen ne ljublju.

Zemfira:
 Ne ljubish'? Mne kakoje delo?
 Ja pesnju dlja sebja poju.

Solo (Zemfira):
 [Rezh' menja, zhgi menja
 Ne skazhu nichego;
 Staryj muzh, groznyj muzh, 
 Ne uznajesh' jego.]³ 
 On svezheje vesny, 
 Zharche letnego dnja;
 Kak on molod i smel! 
 Kak on ljubit menja!
 [Kak laskala jego
 Ja v nochnoj tishine!
 Kak smejalis' togda
 My tvojej sedine!]⁴

Aleko:
 Molchi, Zemfira! ja dovolen...

Zemfira:
 Tak ponjal pesnju ty moju?

Aleko:
 Zemfira!

Zemfira:
 Ty serdit'sja volen,
 Ja pesnju pro tebja poju.

Solo:
 Staryj muzh, groznyj muzh, itd...

View text without footnotes
¹ Tchaikovsky has omitted many lines of the original here.
² Tchaikovsky: "ni ognja, ni mecha"
³ Tchaikovsky:

Staryj muzh, groznyj muzh, 
Rezh' menja, zhgi menja:
Ja tverda, ne bojus' 
Ni ognja, ni mecha.

⁴ omitted by Tchaikovsky.

Show Cyrillic (Покажите текст в кириллице)
Note on Transliteration

Authorship

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799-1837)

Цыганы (Cygany)

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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