I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Boris Blacher (1903 - 1975), "I know noble accents", 1957 [ voice and string quartet ], from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 8, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lukas Foss (b. 1922), "I know noble accents", 1978, copyright © 1980 [ soprano, piano, flute, 2 tapes, and percussion ], from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 8, New York, Pembroke [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912 - 1990), "I know noble accents", 1947, published 1951, from 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louise Juliette Talma (1906 - 1996), "I know noble accents", 1979 [ tenor or soprano, oboe, flute or violin, and piano ], from 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 5
Word count: 21
Je connais de nobles accents
Et des rythmes lucides et inéluctables ;
Mais je sais aussi
Que le merle est mêlé
À ce que je connais.