"Shyopot, robkoe dyhanye..." (1850).
A great piece and a veritable epitome of Russian love lyrics.
Extremely well known by having NO verbs, a real feat in Russian and a staple of every grammar book.
Much hated by the Progressives (Dobrolyubov) as "useless"
Here it is in a vague translation by Martha Gilbert Dickinson Bianchi, "the last of the Dickinsons" ...
WHISPERS AND THE TIMID BREATHING
Whispers and the timid breathing,
Nightingale's long trill,
Silver moonlight and the rocking
Of the dreaming rill;
Nightly light and nightly shadow,
Shadow's endless lace--
Neath the moon's enchanted changes
The Beloved's face.
Blinking stars as flash of amber,
Snowy clouds on-rush,
Tears and happiness and kisses--
And the dawn's red blush!
Now, the Russian original does NOT have "dawn's red blush" - only "dawn, dawn";
the clouds are smoky, not snowy;
the trill is not "long", it is just a trill;
there is no "Shadow's endless lace", only "endless shadows",
Tears and happiness and kisses-- Just "tears and kisses" but no happiness ...
Even "Neath the moon's enchanted changes/The Beloved's face" is completely garbled, Fet's famous line talks about "enchanted changes
of the Beloved's face", NOt of the Moon!
and this is Emily's niece!
(see:
http://www.fullbooks.com/Russian-Lyrics2.html,
http://www.cheryltime.com/ED/editing/players/martha.html)
One can side with VN on his lamentations about Russian poetry translations...
best wishes,
Fet
________________________________________
From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum [NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU] On Behalf Of Matthew Roth [MRoth@MESSIAH.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 1:41 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: [NABOKV-L] QUERY: Fet's Nightingale Poem
In Mary, Ganin waits "in vain for a nightingale to start trilling in the poplars as in a poem by Fet." Can someone provide me with the poem in question, preferably in translation?
Many thanks,
Matt Roth