Go and catch a falling star

Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the devil's foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy's stinging,
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.

If thou be'st born to strange sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand days and nights,
Till age snow white hairs on thee,
Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me,
All strange wonders that befell thee,
And swear,
No where
Lives a woman true and fair.

If thou find'st one, let me know,
Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
Though at next door we might meet,
Though she were true, when you met her,
And last, till you write your letter,
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two, or three.

Translation(s): ITA

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About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

• by John Donne (1572 - 1631), "Go and catch a falling star" [ 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 Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "Go and catch a falling star", published 1961. [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Colin Brumby (b. 1933), "Go and catch a falling star", published 1979, from The English Songs [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by David Vassall Cox (1916 - 1997), "Go and catch a falling star", 1959, published 1962 [tenor and piano], from The Humours of Love [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by William Flanagan (1923 - 1969), "Go and catch a falling star", published 1949. [high voice and piano] [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Philippe Hersant (b. 1948), "Falling star", 2005 [vocal octet and viola da gamba], Éditions Durand ; Hersant's catalog of works indicates the text of this setting is also based on a poem by Henry King [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011), "Go and catch a falling star" [tenor and piano] [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Bernard George Stevens (1916 - 1983), "Go and catch a falling star", published 1948, from Three Songs: The Words by John Donne [
   text not verified 
  ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , title 1: "Va', e cattura una stella cadente", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website: 2005-12-07 00:00:00.

Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:02:16

Line count: 27
Word count: 147

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Va', e cattura una stella cadente

Va', e cattura una stella cadente,
Ingravida una radice di mandragola,
Rivelami dove si trovano gli anni del passato,
O chi il piede del diavolo ha spaccato,
Insegnami a udire delle sirene il canto,
O a evitare dell' invidia il tormento,
E dimmi che hai trovato
Quel vento
Che può ad un animo onesto esser d'aiuto.

Fossi tu nato per visioni strane,
Di  cose invisibili alla vista,
A cavalcare per mille notti  e giorni
Finché la neve degli anni imbianchi la tua  testa,
Allora racconteresti al tuo ritorno,
Di  meraviglie e di bizzarre avventure,
Ma  giureresti
Che non c'è casa
Dove donna sia bella e pur  virtuosa.

Ne trovassi una sola, saperlo vorrei,
In dolce pellegrinaggio mi recherei da lei;
Ma forse, no, meglio rinunciare,
Pure  se abitasse accanto alla mia porta.
Se ancor fosse sincera, quando tu l'hai scoperta,
Mentre tu mi scrivessi per darmene notizia,
Già lei,
prima che io sia arrivato,
la fiducia di due  o di tre avrebbe  tradito.

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Authorship

• Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2005 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (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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• a text in English by John Donne (1572 - 1631), "Go and catch a falling star"
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Anonymous/Unidentified Artist, Colin Brumby, David Vassall Cox, William Flanagan, Philippe Hersant, Lee Hoiby, Bernard George Stevens. Go to the text.

Text added to the website: 2006-01-01 00:00:00.

Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:02:16

Line count: 27
Word count: 163