(He sings) What shall I give thee, my beautiful one, A moonwhite pearl for thy golden zone? From a thousand fathoms of deep green sea A diver brought this rare pearl to me! (She sings) Nay, nay, my lover thy rich gems keep, For I have dived in a mightier deep. I looked in thine eyes, and thy soul I won, And my pearl is love, and love alone. (He sings) Then a rose I'll give thee, my fairest one! Which the odorous South has breathed upon, From the Shah's most treasured, best guarded tree Boldly I stole it, this rose for thee. (She sings) Nay, the loveliest flower from east or west, Is breathing, is blooming on my breast, From thine I plucked it, to keep for my own, And my rose is love, and love alone.
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Authorship:
- by Helen Maude Francesca Bantock, née von Schweitzer (1868 - 1961) [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 Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "The pearl and the rose", 1898, published 1898, orchestrated 1945 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of the East IV: Songs of Persia, no. 6, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Franz Hermann Schneider) , "Perle und Rose"
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-19
Line count: 20
Word count: 138