Lermontov: A Wish

This poem includes a very rare example (in modern Russian, anyway) of a short-form adjective used in a case other than the nominative: Lermontov has по синю полю instead of по синему полю. In his phrase, both adjective and noun are taking the same (soft dative) ending, as is obvious. Historically, Slavic had only one set of case endings — the ones we now think of as noun endings. The second set, which arose from pronoun forms, came later; we now think of them as adjective endings. If you compare certain modern forms of Russian pronouns with adjectival endings, this is obvious (e.g. его - хорошего, ей - хорошей, ему - хорошему, etc. Even the nominative endings like ий point back to older forms of the pronouns, before the ones we’re used to — он, она, они (which began life as demonstratives) — took over.

In modern Russian, short form adjectives are used exclusively as predicate adjectives (For example: Он жив. Она жива. Они живы.) — this explains why they only appear in the nominative (since they always point back to the subject). More recently, only a handful of adjectives are used consistently in their short forms in actual speech, and some adjectives happen to have no short form whatsoever (русский being one obvious example). By the way, if you are reading much older texts — and especially Church Slavonic texts — you can expect to see short forms everywhere, in all cases; in Church Slavonic, the long and short forms of adjectives are more or less interchangeable.

Желанье

Отворите мне темницу,
Дайте мне сиянье дня,
Черноглазую девицу,
Черногривого коня.
Дайте раз по синю полю
Проскакать на том коне;
Дайте раз на жизнь и волю,
Как на чуждую мне долю,
Посмотреть поближе мне.

Дайте мне челнок досчатый
С полусгнившею скамьей,
Парус серый и косматый,
Ознакомленный с грозой.
Я тогда пущуся в море
Беззаботен и один,
Разгуляюсь на просторе
И потешусь в буйном споре
С дикой прихотью пучин.

Дайте мне дворец высокой
И кругом зеленый сад,
Чтоб в тени его широкой
Зрел янтарный виноград;
Чтоб фонтан не умолкая
В зале мраморном журчал
И меня б в мечтаньях рая,
Хладной пылью орошая,
Усыплял и пробуждал...

1832

A Wish

Throw open this dungeon of mine;
Give me the brilliant light of day —
A black-eyed maiden,
A black-maned steed.
Just once, let me gallop, on that steed,
Across a field of deep blue grass;
Just once, let me get a closer look
At life, at freedom —
At those lots so alien to me.

Give me a humble wooden boat,
With a half-rotten bench,
A gray and ragged sail,
Well-acquainted with the storm.
I’d set sail into the open sea,
Carefree and alone;
I’d frolic in that free expanse,
And delight in a furious fight
With the savage whims of the swirling depths.

Give me a towering palace,
And, around it, a garden of green —
And let the amber-colored grapes
Grow in its sprawling shade;
Let a fountain, never silent,
Murmur in a marble hall —
By turns lulling me to sleep and waking me,
Sprinkling me with its cool water,
As I dream of heaven…

translation M. Pettus

Vocab notes

отворять АЙ / отворить И: to open • темница: dungeon • сияние: shining, brilliance • черноглазый: black-eyed • девица: maiden • черногривый: black-maned (грива: mane) • раз: (just) once • синю = синему • проскакивать АЙ / проскакать А: to gallop through • воля: freedom (will) • чуждый: foreign, alien • доля: lot • поближе: close • челнок: canoe, small boat • дощатый: made of planks (доска: plank, board) • полусгнивший: half-decayed (гнить (гнию, гниёшь) / сгнить: to rot) • скамья: bench • парус: sail • серый: gray • косматый: ragged • ознакомленный с чем: (well) acquainted with • гроза: storm • пускаться АЙ / пуститься И: to set off • беззаботный: carefree • разгуляться АЙ: to let oneself go • на просторе: freely, in the open expanse • потешаться АЙ / потешиться И: to find delight • буйный: impetuous, violent • спор: dispute, struggle • дикий: wild • прихоть, и: caprice • пучина: abyss, the deep • дворец: palace • сад: garden • тень, и: shade • широкий: broad • зреть = видеть • янтарный: amber • виноград: grapes • фонтан: fountain • умолкать АЙ / умолкнуть (НУ): to fall silent • зал: hall, large room • мраморный: marble • журчать ЖА: to babble  • мечтание: dreaming, daydreams • рай: paradise • хладный = холодный • пыль, и: here, particles, mist (usually: dust) • орошать АЙ / оросить И: to besprinkle • усыплять АЙ / усыпить И: to put to sleep • пробуждать АЙ / пробудить И: to awaken

If you add stanzas one and two, the result is this song by Lyle Lovett. By the way, if you ever get a chance to see Lyle live, don’t miss it… he’s terrific. Just about everyone I know who’s been a concert of his raved about it, regardless of their musical tastes. I’ve seen him twice in Nashville, once shortly after he was almost killed by a bull. He hobbled out on his busted leg, broken ribs, etc. and sat there and played a great show. Reminds me of the time a few years ago when my dad was almost killed by a cow. Don’t worry, he’s fine now. The cow, on the other hand, quickly became a hamburger.