Владимирский централ [Vladimirskii Tsentral] [English translation]

Again the spring has come,

And warming rays of sun

Are looking in my cell through window-panes

Again the heart will ache

The feelings will awake

And memory recalls auld days

Those days will come to me

And I shall feel and see

The girl whom I loved so long ago

That girl came and left

That girl I can’t forget

Her image’s always in my soul.

Refrain:

Vladimir prison-house

Сold northern wind

My transport came from Tver

And all my evil deeds

Lie on my heart like heavy weights

Vladimir prison-house (and)

cold wind from north

I played my life like cards

And now my game’s lost

Not with one pip, but, as it happens

With eleven and an ace.

I see from my small cage

A narrow thawed patch

A sign for me that spring has come indeed

And now I am pleased

That I have this at least

It is your love I deeply need.

Refrain:

Vladimir prison-house,

cold northern wind

My transport came from Tver

And all my evil deeds

Lie on my heart like heavy weights

Vladimir prison-house (and)

cold wind from north

I played my life like cards

But now my game’s lost

Not with one pip, but, as it happens,

With eleven and an ace