Youth, large, lusty, loving -- Youth full of grace, force, fascination! Do you know that Old Age may come after you, with equal grace, force, fascination? Day, full-blown and splendid -- Day of the immense sun, action, ambition, laughter. The Night follows close, with millions of suns, and sleep, and restoring darkness.
Trois mélodies
Song Cycle by Eva Ruth Spalding (1882 - 1969)
1. Youth, Day, Old Age, and Night  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Leaves of Grass, in Great are the Myths, no. 1, stanzas 3 and 4
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]1. Jeunesse, jour, vieillese et nuit  [sung text not yet checked]
Jeunesse, large, robuste, aimante, — jeunesse pleine de grâce, force, fascination, Sais-tu que la Vieillesse peut venir après toi avec autant de grâce, force, fascination ? Jour épanoui et splendide — jour du soleil, de l’action, l’ambition, du rire immenses, La Nuit te suit de près avec ses millions de soleil et son sommeil et ses réconfortantes ténèbres.
Authorship:
- by Léon Bazalgette (1873 - 1928), "Jeunesse, jour, vieillesse et nuit", appears in Feuilles d'herbe
Based on:
- a text in English by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Leaves of Grass, in Great are the Myths, no. 1, stanzas 3 and 4
Go to the single-text view
Confirmed with Walt Whitman. Feuilles d'herbe. Traduction intégrale d'après l'édition définitive par Léon Bazalgette, cinquième édition, Paris, Mercure de France, 1922, page 300.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
2. A clear midnight  [sung text not yet checked]
This is thy hour, O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless, Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done, Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best, Night, sleep, death, and the stars.
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "A clear midnight"
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Portions of this text were used in Idyll by Frederick Delius.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
2. Minuit clair
— This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. —
Authorship:
- by Léon Bazalgette (1873 - 1928)
Based on:
- a text in English by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "A clear midnight"
Go to the single-text view
3. The last invocation  [sung text not yet checked]
1 At the last, tenderly, From the walls of the powerful, fortress'd house, From the clasp of the knitted locks -- from the keep of the well-closed doors, Let me be wafted. 2 Let me glide noiselessly forth; With the key of softness unlock the locks -- with a whisper, Set [ope]1 the doors, O Soul! 3 Tenderly! be not impatient! (Strong is your hold, O mortal flesh! Strong is your hold, O Love.)
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "The last invocation", appears in Leaves of Grass, first published 1900
See other settings of this text.
View original text (without footnotes)1 Bacon: "up"; Pederson: "open"
Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
3. L'invocation suprême
— This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. —
Authorship:
- Singable translation by Léon Bazalgette (1873 - 1928)
Based on:
- a text in English by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "The last invocation", appears in Leaves of Grass, first published 1900
Go to the single-text view