I pressed my burning lips against a fragile flower
And made its velvet petals disconnect;
I’m holding but the stem; Yet can you resurrect
The life and scent? Your tears have no power!
You had no love for me! Without hesitation,
You crushed my cordial dreams, and in the wind they flew,
Like petals from the bloom. Can they be saved by you?
Can you refill my heart with joy and consolation?
2023-11-10.
Original: ‘Kosnulas’ ya tsvetka’ by V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. Music by César Cui (‘7 romances’, Op.49, No.1).
Коснулась я цвѣтка горячими устами;
И лепестки разсыпались, лежатъ;
Я стебель лишь держу, а жизнь и ароматъ
Вернёшь ли ты безсильными слезами?
Ты не любилъ меня! Безжалостно, сурово,
Развѣялъ твой обманъ сердечныя мечты,
Какъ лепестки цвѣтка. Ихъ возвратишь ли ты?
И сердцу моему вернёшь ли счастье снова?
1890–1894? (журналъ «Артистъ»), 1895 (Leipzig: M.P. Belaieff).