The meaning of the lyrics of the song "When the night lanterns sway..." (Kogda kachayutsya fonariki nochnyie...) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

When the night lanterns sway,

When it's dangerous to go out,

I'm walking from the pub,

I'm not waiting for anyone,

I can no longer love anyone.

Girls used to kiss my feet like crazy,

With some widow, I drank away my father's house.

But my arrogant laughter

Always had success,

And my youth cracked like a nut.

I sit on the bunk, like a king on his name day,

And I dream of getting a ration of grey gruel.

I look like an owl through the window,

Now I don't care!

I'm ready to put out my torch before anyone else.

When the night lanterns sway,

When it's dangerous to go out,

I'm walking from the pub,

I'm not waiting for anyone,

I can no longer love anyone.

Когда качаются фонарики ночные

Когда на улицу опасно выходить, —

Я из пивной иду,

Я никого не жду,

Я никого уже не в силах полюбить.

Мне девки ноги целовали, как шальные,

С какой то вдовушкой я пропил отчий дом.

Но мой нахальный смех

Всегда имел успех,

И моя юность раскололась, как орех.

Сижу на нарах, как король на именинах,

И пайку серого мечтаю получить.

Гляжу, как сыч, в окно,

Теперь мне всё равно!

Я раньше всех готов свой факел погасить.

Когда качаются фонарики ночные

Когда на улицу опасно выходить, —

Я из пивной иду,

Я никого не жду,

Я никого уже не в силах полюбить.

Vladimir Vysotsky's poem "When the Night Lanterns Sway..." paints a portrait of a man broken by life, having lost all hope and meaning.

From the very first lines, an atmosphere of anxiety and danger is created: "When the night lanterns sway / When it's dangerous to go out..." The lyrical hero, however, is not afraid, he doesn't care. He is walking "from the pub," hinting at problems with alcohol and attempts to escape reality. The phrase "I'm not waiting for anyone / I'm no longer able to love anyone" speaks of deep disappointment and emotional emptiness.

In the second verse, we learn about the turbulent, but perhaps reckless, youth of the lyrical hero: "Girls kissed my feet like crazy, / With some widow I drank away my father's house." His "brazen laughter" and success with women led to collapse: "And my youth cracked like a nut."

The third verse takes us to a prison cell. The hero, sitting "on the bunk like a king at a feast," ironically compares his situation to a royal one. He has lost everything, and the only thing left for him is to wait for the "ration of grey" (prison bread) and watch through the bars like an "owl." The phrase "Now I don't care! / I'm ready to extinguish my torch before anyone else" is an admission of complete despair and readiness to die.

The repetition of the first lines at the end of the poem emphasizes hopelessness. The hero is trapped in a circle of his own mistakes and suffering. The "night lanterns" and dangerous street become symbols of a grim reality from which there is no escape.