Пленившись розой, соловей
И день и ночь поёт над ней;
[Но роза молча песням внемлет...]1
[Невинный сон её объемлет... ]2
На лире так певец иной
Поёт для девы молодой;
[Он страстью пламенной сгорает,]3
А дева милая не знает --
[Кому поёт он? отчего]4
Печальны песни так его?...

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ omitted by Artsybushev
² omitted by Artsybushev and Rimsky-Korsakov.
³ omitted by Rimsky-Korsakov
⁴ Artsybushev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rubinstein: "Кому поёт и отчего" ("Komu pojot i otchego")

Show a transliteration: Default | DIN | GOST

Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

• by Aleksey Vasil'yevich Kol'tsov (1808 - 1842), "Соловей" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

• by Nikolai Vasil'yevich Artsybushev (1858 - 1937), "Восточная песня" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Aleksandr Konstantinovich Glazunov (1865 - 1936), "Соловей", op. 4 (Пять романсов (Pjat' romansov)) no. 2 (1881-1885), published 1887? [ voice and piano ], also set in French (Français) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by A. I. Gurovich , "Восточный романс" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Nikolai Mikhailovich Ladukhin (1860 - 1918), "Соловей", published 1891 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Grigory Grigoryevich Lobachev (1888 - 1953), "Соловей" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 - 1908), "Восточный романс", op. 2 (Четыре романса (Chetyre romansa)) no. 2 (1866) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (1829 - 1894), "Соловей", op. 27 (Devjat' romansy = Neun Lieder von Kolzoff) no. 4, published 1849, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Vladimir Timofeyevich Sokolov (1830 - 1890), "Соловей", 1860, published 1895 [ voice and piano ], Moscow: Gutheil [sung text not yet checked]
• by Sergey Vladimirovich Yuferov (1865 - 1927), "Пленившись розой, соловей" [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi (1877 - 1944) , "Le rossignol" ; composed by Aleksandr Konstantinovich Glazunov.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August von Viedert ; composed by Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein.
  • Go to the text.
    

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ENG English [singable] (Constance Bache) (William Stigand, né Stigant) , "The nightingale and the rose"
• ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "A nightingale", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Sergey Rybin) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Amanda Cole) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le rossignol", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 46

The Nightingale in fervent song
Doth woo the rose the whole night long,
But to his lay no ear she lendeth,
Her head in innocence she bendeth.
Thus oft the lover sings a strain,
To his guitar, of grief and pain,
With glowing love he hopeth, feareth,
But even if the maiden heareth,
She doth not know of whom he sings,
Or why his song so sadly rings.