sentences:  The main tune is taken from a Russian song about the Cossack ataman Stepan (also known as Stenka) Razin known as "Iz-za ostrova na strezhen" or "Volga, Volga mat' rodnaya" which became popular in Russia as early as the 1890s.There is a resemblance in the tune, tempo and emotional appeal to the iconic Welsh song "Myfanwy", by Joseph Parry, written earlier, though the Russian folklore possibly predates them both.The original lyrics of the song, written in 1883 by the poet and Povolzhye region ethnographer Dmitry Sadovnikov to a folk melody, told about an episode of the 1670–1671 Russian Peasant Uprising in which Stepan Razin allegedly killed his captive, a beautiful Persian Princess, by throwing her into the water from his boat.