To the heart of youth the world is a...

To the heart of youth the world is a highwayside.
Passing for ever, he fares; and on either hand,
Deep in the gardens golden pavilions hide,
Nestle in orchard bloom, and far on the level land
Call him with lighted lamp in the eventide.

Thick as stars at night when the moon is down,
Pleasures assail him. He to his nobler fate
Fares; and but waves a hand as he passes on,
Cries but a wayside word to her at the garden gate,
Sings but a boyish stave and his face is gone.

Translation(s): CAT GER ITA

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Authorship

• by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Youth and Love II", appears in Songs of Travel and other verses, no. 3 [ 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 Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Youth and love", 1904, published 1907, orchestrated 1962 [voice and piano], from Songs of Travel, no. 4. [ sung text verified 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Sebastian Viebahn) , "Der Junge und die Liebe", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Lucio Forte) , "Gioventù e amore", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Der Junge und die Liebe

Dem Herz des Jungen ist die Welt ein Straßenrand.
Stets voran ist er unterwegs; rechter und linker Hand
sind goldene Lauben tief in Gartenland versteckt,
und locken abends ihn, ganz von Obsthainblühn verdeckt,
von weitem schon mit Lichtschein auf dem flachen Land.

Genüsse drängen dicht, wie Sterne in Neumondnacht,
in Scharen zu ihm. Doch er, sein höhres Los
im Blick, winkt knapp mit seiner Hand im Eilen bloß,
wirft nur ein Wort am Rand ihr zu am Gartentor --
sang nur ein jungenhaftes Lied, bevor sich sein Gesicht verlor.

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Übertragung ins Deutsche, inkl. Versmaß und Reim/ Translation into German, with metre and rhyme

Authorship

• Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2004 by Sebastian Viebahn, (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 Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Youth and Love II", appears in Songs of Travel and other verses, no. 3 CAT ITA
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Ralph Vaughan Williams. Go to the text.

Text added to the website: 2013-03-25.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:05:09
Line count: 10
Word count: 88