Thread: Translation needed for Russian song

Lampada was kind enough to write down the text to a song which was included in my blog. Is there someone who would be willing to translate these lyrics for me? I would very much like to include the translation in my upcoming book.

Крашены двери голубой краской,
Смазаны двери хорошо маслом.
Ночью дверей не видно,
Ночью дверей не слышно…
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
О о о о
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
О о о о
Моя сила на тебе играет,
Твоя сила во мне ликует.
Высота медвяно капнет долу,
Прорастают розовые стебли…
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
О о о о
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
О о о о
Крашены двери голубой краской,
Смазаны двери хорошо маслом.
Ночью дверей не видно,
Ночью дверей не слышно…
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
О о о о
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
Полной, полной луны сила!
О о о о

My thanks to anyone who would be kind enough to translate this for me! I can attempt it myself, but I fear my translation will be crude )))

The doors are coloured with blue paint,
The doors are well lubricated [with oil].
The doors are invisible/indiscernible at night, (= No one can see the doors at night)
The doors are noiseless/silent at night... (= No one can hear the doors at night)

A full, full Moon's power!
A full, full Moon's power!
A full, full Moon's power!
Ohhh
A full, full Moon's power!
A full, full Moon's power!
A full, full Moon's power!
Ohhh

My force/power plays you (like someone plays a musical instrument)
Your force/power is exulting in me,
The hill drips honeyedly into the pit, (He uses old/uncommon Russian here, it would be nice if you will use old English in Shakespeare's style)
The pink/rosy stems are sprouting [up]...

The last four lines sound like a camouflaged coitus.

A full, full Moon's power!
A full, full Moon's power!
A full, full Moon's power!
Ohhh

Thanks, Paul!

Originally Posted by Deborski

Thanks, Paul!

My name must be at the first place in the book (after yours, agreed).

Deborski:

Apparently this was originally a 1923 poem by Михаил Кузмин. The original had an extra verse not included in your version of the song:

Золото в потолке зодиаком,
Поминальные по полу фиалки,
Двустороннее зеркало круглеет...
Ты и я, ты и я - вместе -

My attempt at a translation:

The gold on the ceiling forms a circle like the zodiac.
The funeral violets form a circle on the floor.
The two-sided mirror looms circular.
You and I, you and I, together.

In other words, I think that the singular verb круглеет ("to become round" or "to have a round appearance") is meant to refer back to the three nouns золото, зеркало, and фиалки, even though the last one is plural. But I could be wrong. Also, based on Googling, I think that двустороннее зеркало means one of those mirrors that reflects differently on each side (like a cosmetics mirror), as opposed to a semi-transparent mirror used in the interview rooms at police stations.

And, by the way, naturally I wondered why the door was painted with голубая краска -- as opposed to some other color. Three possible reasons:

(1) голубой fits the meter because it has three syllables and is end-stressed

(2) Figuratively, голубой can mean "idyllic, impractical, head-in-the-clouds, dreamy" (and this meaning goes back to the 18th century, AFAIK)

(3) Mikhail Kuzmin was apparently bisexual. English Wikipedia claims that he had a brief sexual affair with an artist named Sergei Sudeikin after befriending Sudeikin's wife, the actress Olga Glebova. Russian Википедия does not include this bit of gossip about Kuzmin's personal life, but it does note that Kuzmin's 1906 novel «Крылья» was the "первая в русской литературе повесть на гомоэротическую тематику." (Of course, regardless of the poet's sexual orientation, homoerotic themes would've been "a hot topic" among Russians in literary/artistic circles of that era, because Oscar Wilde's sodomy trial had only been about 10 years earlier, and was internationally scandalous. So the fact that Kuzmin included such themes in Wings does not necessarily mean anything about his personal life -- it may have simply been his way of commenting on Wilde.)

HOWEVER, regardless of Kuzmin's own orientation, it's not clear to me whether голубой had already acquired the slang sense of "gay" when Kuzmin wrote this poem in the 1920s -- obviously, the reference to "light blue paint" cannot have (homo)sexual significance if the word голубой didn't have such a meaning at the time!

Thanks for the background, Throbert.

You can listen to Igor Azarov's rendition of the song at this link, if you want:

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Deborski:

In other words, I think that the singular verb круглеет ("to become round" or "to have a round appearance") is meant to refer back to the three nouns золото, зеркало, and фиалки, even though the last one is plural. But I could be wrong.

There's one issue, even if we throw away plural "фиалки": круглеет should be круглеют if applied to multiple nouns.
You may be confused with the first line, which may make you feel like something is missed there: Золото в потолке зодиаком (do what?)
I'm not a philologist to explain it correctly, but it's kind of poetic device, methinks. Or something.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

And, by the way, naturally I wondered why the door was painted with голубая краска -- as opposed to some other color. Three possible reasons:

(1) голубой fits the meter because it has three syllables and is end-stressed

(2) Figuratively, голубой can mean "idyllic, impractical, head-in-the-clouds, dreamy" (and this meaning goes back to the 18th century, AFAIK)

(3) Mikhail Kuzmin was apparently bisexual. English Wikipedia claims that he had a brief sexual affair with an artist named Sergei Sudeikin after befriending Sudeikin's wife, the actress Olga Glebova. Russian Википедия does not include this bit of gossip about Kuzmin's personal life, but it does note that Kuzmin's 1906 novel «Крылья» was the "первая в русской литературе повесть на гомоэротическую тематику." (Of course, regardless of the poet's sexual orientation, homoerotic themes would've been "a hot topic" among Russians in literary/artistic circles of that era, because Oscar Wilde's sodomy trial had only been about 10 years earlier, and was internationally scandalous. So the fact that Kuzmin included such themes in Wings does not necessarily mean anything about his personal life -- it may have simply been his way of commenting on Wilde.)

HOWEVER, regardless of Kuzmin's own orientation, it's not clear to me whether голубой had already acquired the slang sense of "gay" when Kuzmin wrote this poem in the 1920s -- obviously, the reference to "light blue paint" cannot have (homo)sexual significance if the word голубой didn't have such a meaning at the time!

(4) He had a blue doors in his house

According to this article the term was used since about 1970s, maybe 60s.

Considering Tevgeny Yevtushenko's famous quote: "Translation is like a woman. If it is beautiful, it is not faithful. If it is faithful, it is most certainly not beautiful" -- my reworking of Paul's translation may be a bit unfaithful, although I am not sure it is actually beautiful either:

The doors are gaily painted
Their hinges are well-oiled
They can't be seen in the deep night
At night, they make no sound

Behold the power of the full, full moon!
Ohhh
Behold the power of the full, full moon!
Ohhh

My power plays you (like a lyre)
I exult in your magnetism
Your honeyed mountains drip into the hollows
Your rosey blossom blooms

Behold the power of the full, full moon!
Ohhh..

Perhaps this retains some of the author's veiled meanings?
Anyone is welcome to make another try

If I were actually any good at poetry, I might try to make it rhyme, but then it's resemblance to the original would become even more fleeting...

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

HOWEVER, regardless of Kuzmin's own orientation, it's not clear to me whether голубой had already acquired the slang sense of "gay" when Kuzmin wrote this poem in the 1920s -- obviously, the reference to "light blue paint" cannot have (homo)sexual significance if the word голубой didn't have such a meaning at the time!

Some russian толковые словари provide examples of metaphors with голубой, such as Голубые магистрали (о больших реках), Голубое топливо (о газе). Голубой экран (о телевизоре) - such expressions appeared and were quite popular in Soviet journalism and my guess is they appeared after 1923 (considering Russian history, for example history of television). Such expressions were used roughly through 40s - 60s (I can just guess here), so perhaps even at that time this new meaning was unknown.