Na zare ty eyo ne budy
(Do not wake her at dawn)
This song is a very famous Russian romance, composed by Alexander Varlamov (1801-1848) to a verse written by Afanasiy Fet (1820-1892). Fet's mother, Charlotte Fet, had been pregnant when she met her latest husband Afanasiy Shenshin in Germany. They married in Russia, but as the government found out that Fet was born only one month after the marriage of his parents, he lost his father's name, heridatery title and his legacy. Being an illegitimate child, Fet lost all financial benefits, and he experienced the fact as a big disgrace. Only at the age of 53, after years of prosecution, his request was granted and he re-acquired the right to the name, the title and the inheritance of Afanasiy Shenshin.
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Fet completed his studies at the Moscow State University on the verbal department of the faculty of philology, and already in 1840 he published his first work at his own expense. He gained recognition for being a remarkable poet, but due to the instability of the social and financial situation, however, the readers in general were no more interested in buying poetry. This situation brought Fet to the brink of poverty. Due to the experience during his youth, he decided not to marry his beloved girl Marya Lazic, and they separated. Only shortly after this final rejection, a strange accident happened: Marya was sitting in Fet's house, with a lit candle in her hand. Did she fall asleep? Nobody knows, but fact is that her dress caught fire, she was not able to extinguish it and died. It is unknown whether she committed suicide, or did die in an accident. Fet felt deeply hurt, and it was on this event that he wrote the poem "Do not wake her at dawn".
Another story tells that Fet wrote the poem after he had spent the night at the house of his friends. Their daughter, who suffered from the heart, was found the same morning dead in bed. Fet observed the girl in the evening, spoke with her, and looked at her for some time when she was sleeping. This event is also being said to be the reason for Fet to write the poem, that would become very widely known in Russia. The poetry of Fet is very musical, that is especially clearly seen in the song. The famous Russian composer P. Tchaikovsky called Fet "the poet-musician".
Another story tells that Fet wrote the poem after he had spent the night at the house of his friends. Their daughter, who suffered from the heart, was found the same morning dead in bed. Fet observed the girl in the evening, spoke with her, and looked at her for some time when she was sleeping. This event is also being said to be the reason for Fet to write the poem, that would become very widely known in Russia. The poetry of Fet is very musical, that is especially clearly seen in the song. The famous Russian composer P. Tchaikovsky called Fet "the poet-musician".
The romance had been written in 1842, and the same year it was published in the scientist-literary magazine "Moskvityanin", part 3, number 5. Shortly after, Alexander Varlamov composed the music to it, especially for the performance by the great Russian tenor-singer of the Moscow Imperial Troupe, A. Bantyshev. It was Bantyshev himself who asked Varlamov for the composing of a new romance especially for him, and Varlamov chose the recently published Fet`s verse, taking the first line of that verse as the title for the romance.
Already in 1850, only a few years after its creation, the song was included in songbooks, and in the repertoire of folk choirs and professional solo performers. A famous Russian literature activist and critic, Apollon Grigoriev, said that the song had become nearly a folk one. Saltykov-Shchedrin, a famous Russian writer, claimed in the 1860s, that "the whole Russia was singing the Fet`s romances". The romance has been performed by the artists: A. Bantychev, Sergey Lemeshev, Mikhail Alexandrovich, Galina Kovalyova, Kate Bush, Oleg Pogudin, Galina Pisarenko, A. Ivanov-Kramskoj, Eugenia Smolyaninova, Tatiana Azarova, Dmitri Ryakhin, Vladislav Kosarev, Nina Terentyeva, Victoria Ivanova. |
Galina Kovalyova performing the romance
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Russian text
На заре ты еë не буди, На заре она сладко так спит; Утро дышит у ней на груди, Ярко пышет на ямках ланит. И подушка ее горяча, И горяч утомительный сон, И, чернеясь, бегут на плеча Косы лентой с обеих сторон. А вчера у окна ввечеру Долго-долго сидела она И следила по тучам игру, Что, скользя, затевала луна. И чем ярче играла луна, И чем громче свистал соловей, Все бледней становилась она, Сердце билось больней и больней. Оттого-то на юной груди, На ланитах так утро горит. Не буди ж ты ее, не буди... На заре она сладко так спит! |
Transliteration
Na zare ty eyo ne budi, Na zare ona sladko tak spit; Utro dyshit u ney na grudi, Yarko pyshet na yamkakh lanit. I podushka yeye goryacha, I goryach utomitel'nyy son, I, cherneyas', begut na plecha Kosy lentoy s obeikh storon. A vchera u okna vvecheru Dolgo-dolgo sidela ona I sledila po tucham igru, Chto, skol'zya, zatevala luna. I chem yarche igrala luna, I chem gromche svistal solovey, Vse bledney stanovilas' ona, Serdtse bilos' bol'ney i bol'ney. Ottogo-to na yunoy grudi, Na lanitakh tak utro gorit. Ne budi zh ty eyo, ne budi... Na zare ona sladko tak spit! |
English text
Wake her not out of sleep at the dawn, At the dawn she is sleeping too sweet. On her breast there is breath of the morn, On the cheeks dimples are blooming with it. Hot is this sound sleep of the maid’s Yet she now is foreign to trouble; By the shoulders are running her braids Like dark ribbons on snow-white marble. Very long at the window last eve Quite alone she was watching the moon That was playing with clouds as if Wished to tease them while lovesome and boon. And the more tender night got opaque, And the louder sang a nightingale, More and more she was feeling sweet ache, From excitement she was turning pale. That is why are caressed by the morn Her young breasts and the dimples, indeed. Wake her not out of sleep at the dawn… At the dawn she is sleeping too sweet. Translation by Vyacheslav Chistyakov. Source: http://www.stihi.ru/2013/12/13/5859 |
Sources:
http://pishi-stihi.ru/na-zare-ty-ee-ne-budi-fet.html; http://cyclowiki.org/wiki/На_заре_ты_её_не_буди_(романс) ;
http://www.kritika24.ru/page.php?id=3927; http://www.portal-slovo.ru/philology/40634.php;
http://www.ukrlib.com.ua/sochin-rus/printout.php?id=4&bookid=9; http://www.portal-slovo.ru/philology/40634.php;
http://pishi-stihi.ru/na-zare-ty-ee-ne-budi-fet.html; http://cyclowiki.org/wiki/На_заре_ты_её_не_буди_(романс) ;
http://www.kritika24.ru/page.php?id=3927; http://www.portal-slovo.ru/philology/40634.php;
http://www.ukrlib.com.ua/sochin-rus/printout.php?id=4&bookid=9; http://www.portal-slovo.ru/philology/40634.php;