My desires are many and my cry is...
Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)
Our translations: FRE GER
My desires are many and my cry is pitiful,
but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals;
and this strong mercy has been wrought into my life
through and through.
Day by day thou art making me worthy of the simple,
great gifts that thou gavest to me unasked;
this sky and the light, this [body and the life and the mind]1
saving me from perils of overmuch desire.
There are times when I languidly linger
and times when I awaken and hurry [in]2 search of my goal;
but cruelly thou hidest thyself from before me.
Day by day thou art making me worthy of thy full acceptance
by refusing me ever and anon,
saving me from perils of weak, uncertain desire.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• N. Sohal About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotes
1 Sohal: "body, this life and this mind"
2 Sohal: "to"
Text Authorship:
Based on:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Frederik van Eeden (1860 - 1932) ; composed by Hendrik Andriessen.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Mes désirs sont nombreux et mon cri fait pitié", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-01-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 125
Mes désirs sont nombreux et mon cri fait pitié
Language: French (Français) after the English
Mes désirs sont nombreux et mon cri fait pitié,
mais tu me sauves toujours par de difficiles refus ;
et cette grande clémence a été ciselée dans ma vie
encore et encore.
Jour après jour tu m'as rendu digne des simples,
généreux cadeaux que tu m'offrais sans être demandés ;
ce ciel et la lumière, ce corps et la vie et l'esprit,
me sauvant des périls d'un excès de désir.
Il y a des heures où je m'attarde langoureusement
et des heures où je m'éveille et me hâte à la recherche de mon but ;
mais tu te caches cruellement à ma vue.
Jour après jour tu me rends digne de ta pleine approbation
en m'opposant souvent un refus,
me sauvant des périls d'un désir faible et incertain.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2013 by Pierre Mathé, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2013-12-01
Line count: 14
Word count: 125
