Poetry
Помниш ли, помниш ли…
Not translated into English
Dimcho Debelyanov · 1914
Opening lines
Помниш ли, помниш ли тихия двор,
тихия дом в белоцветните вишни? —
Do you remember, do you remember the quiet yard,
the quiet house among the white-blossomed cherry trees?
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from chitanka.info
Synopsis
Do you remember, do you remember: the speaker asks himself whether he recalls the quiet courtyard, the peaceful house and the cherry trees in blossom, the sheltered world of a happy past, made of whispers and laughter. But the memory turns back on him: this lost world becomes a dark prison, where shame stands guard and where the days of long ago serve as punishment, and he begs that these images no longer be made to shine before him.
Context
The elegy appeared on 24 November 1914 in the journal Rodno izkoustvo, untitled, within a cycle of Elegies; usage has given it its first line as its name. Kaneliya Bozhinova links it to the Renaissance rondeau through its circular composition, and notes that the author erased its autobiographical traces, tied to the courtyard of Colonel Petrunov's house, so that it was long read as a childhood memory of Koprivshtitsa. Dimitar Podvarzachov and Nikolay Liliev included it in the posthumous collection of 1920, and T. Popov set it to music in 1970.
Who it is for
A short elegy whose lines return in a circle; no French or English translation has been found.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of its author's emblematic works, and turned into a choral piece, Todor Popov's Choral (Хорал).