by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Translation by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 - 1882)
John of Tours
Language: English  after the Old French (Ancien français)
John of Tours is back with peace, But he comes home ill at ease. ‘Good-morrow, mother.’ ‘Good-morrow, son; Your wife has borne you a little one.’ ‘Go now, mother, go before, Make me a bed upon the floor; ‘Very low your foot must fall, That my wife hear not at all.’ As it neared the midnight toll, John of Tours gave up his soul. ‘Tell me now, my mother my dear, What's the crying that I hear?’ ‘Daughter, it's the children wake Crying with their teeth that ache.’ ‘Tell me though, my mother my dear, What's the knocking that I hear?’ ‘Daughter, it's the carpenter Mending planks upon the stair.’ ‘Tell me too, my mother my dear, What's the singing that I hear?’ ‘Daughter, it's the priests in rows Going round about our house.’ ‘Tell me then, my mother my dear, What's the dress that I should wear?’ ‘Daughter, any reds or blues, But the black is most in use.’ ‘Nay, but say, my mother my dear, Why do you fall weeping here?’ ‘Oh! the truth must be said,— It's that John of Tours is dead.’ ‘Mother, let the sexton know That the grave must be for two; ‘Aye, and still have room to spare, For you must shut the baby there.’
Confirmed with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Poems. A New Edition, Ellis & White, 1881, pages 284-285.
Authorship:
- by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 - 1882), "John of Tours", written 1869 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Old French (Ancien français) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , collected by Nerval [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "John of Tours", 1927 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-01-05
Line count: 34
Word count: 212