Another assault on my ears – in the best possible way, by Radio 3, brought me this poem by Konstantin Balmont which was one of five which Prokofiev used ‘Gedenke mein from Five poems by Konstantin Balmont op 36’. I am not that familiar with Prokofiev’s work, part from the famous pieces, so I didn’t know what was being played as I drove home.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ppxrp
This poem was read out, and this was what really struck me; I thought it was wonderful. Balmont was a Russian symbolist poet born in 1867 and his poems have been set to music by many famous composers. He died in 1942.
I have brought you a seductive leaf
I have brought you a spicy betel.
Put it in your mouth, relish it,
Having fallen in love with me, remember me.
When the sun rises, remember me,
When the sun sets, remember me,
As you remember your father and mother,
As you remember the house where you were born,
As you remember its doors and its stairs.
Day or night, remember me,
If thunder roars, remember, remember,
If the wind howls, remember, remember,
If lightning flashes, remember, remember, remember, remember.
If the cock’s crowing rings out,
If you hear time ticking by,
And hour follows hour, speeding past, telling its story,
If the sun follows the moon,
In your memory be with me.
Knock, knock, knock,
Here I come.
Knock, knock, knock,
I look through the window.
Do you hear my heart?
There is such fire in it.
Do you feel my soul?
Remember me.
Lois Elsden 