by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
Translation by Dezső Kosztolányi (1885 - 1936)
Theoretikos
Language: English
This mighty empire hath but feet of clay: Of all its ancient chivalry and might Our little island is forsaken quite: Some enemy hath stolen its crown of bay, And from its hills that voice hath passed away Which spake of Freedom: O come out of it, Come out of it, my Soul, thou art not fit For this vile traffic-house, where day by day Wisdom and reverence are sold at mart, And the rude people rage with ignorant cries Against an heritage of centuries. It mars my calm: wherefore in dreams of Art And loftiest culture I would stand apart, Neither for God, nor for his enemies.
Authorship:
- by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), "Theoretikos" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Christopher Berg (b. 1949), "Theoretikos", first performed 1999 [ voice and piano ], from Two Oscar Wilde Sonnets [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Dezső Kosztolányi) , "Theoretikos"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 108
Theoretikos
Language: Hungarian (Magyar)  after the English
Agyaglábon pihen e nagy-nagy ország: a régi dics és fény ma már fakó, e kis szigeten többé nem lakó: álnok kezek babérját elorozták, lankáiról nem szól a hang se hozzád szabadságról, mint hajdan: Hagyd el, ó, hagyd lelkem el, hisz nem neked való ez a kufár-piac, hol a gonoszság kótyára vet hitet, tudást eladnak s barbár zsivajja bőg a durva hadnak, minek a múlt ős-jussa kellene.
Authorship:
- by Dezső Kosztolányi (1885 - 1936), "Theoretikos" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), "Theoretikos"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-07-21
Line count: 11
Word count: 66