Tres Poemes de Walt Whitman

Translations © by Salvador Pila

Song Cycle by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958)

View original-language texts alone: Three Poems by Walt Whitman

1. Nocturne
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
Whispers of heavenly death murmur'd I hear,
Labial gossip of night, sibilant chorals,
Footsteps gently ascending, mystical breezes wafted soft and low,
Ripples of unseen rivers, tides of a current flowing, forever flowing,
(Or is it the plashing of tears? the measureless waters of human tears?)

I see, just see skyward, great cloud-masses,
Mournfully slowly they roll, silently swelling and mixing,
With at times a half-dimm'd sadden'd far-off star,
Appearing and disappearing.

(Some parturition rather, some solemn immortal birth;
On the frontiers to eyes impenetrable,
Some soul is passing over.)

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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
1. Nocturn
Language: Catalan (Català) 
Sento el murmuri d’una mort celestial xiuxiuejant,
labial xerrameca de la nit, corals sibilants,
passes que pugen a poc a poc, ventijols místics flotant suaument i baix,
ones de rius invisibles, marees d’un corrent que flueix, flueix eternament,
(O és potser el xipolleig de llàgrimes? Les immensurables aigües de llàgrimes humanes?

Veig, veig just al cel, grans masses de núvols,
es mouen trista i lentament, creixent i barrejant-se en silenci
amb una estrella llunyana mig somorta, entristida, adesiara
apareixent i desapareixent.

(Més aviat una parturició, una naixença solemne i immortal;
als límits impenetrables per als ulls,
una ànima passa pel damunt.)

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2016 by Salvador Pila, (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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Translation of title "Nocturne" = "Nocturn"


This text was added to the website: 2016-02-11
Line count: 12
Word count: 101

Translation © by Salvador Pila
2. A clear midnight
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
This is thy hour, O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death, and the stars.

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Portions of this text were used in Idyll by Frederick Delius.

by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
2. Una clara mitjanit
Language: Catalan (Català) 
Aquesta és la teva hora, oh ànima, el teu vol lliure vers l’espai sense paraules,
lluny dels llibres, lluny de l’art, el dia esborrat, la lliçó apresa,
tu, enterament emergint endavant, en silenci, mirant fixament , ponderant
els temes que més estimes,
la nit, el somni, la mort i les estrelles.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2016 by Salvador Pila, (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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Based on:

Go to the general single-text view

Translation of title "A clear midnight" = "Una clara mitjanit"


This text was added to the website: 2016-02-11
Line count: 5
Word count: 51

Translation © by Salvador Pila
3. Joy, shipmate, joy
 (Sung text)
Language: English 
Joy, shipmate, joy!
(Pleas'd to my soul at death I cry,)
Our life is closed, our life begins,
The long, long anchorage we leave,
The ship is clear at last, she leaps!
She swiftly courses from the shore,
Joy, shipmate, joy.

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by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
3. Alegra’t company de bord, alegra’t!
Language: Catalan (Català) 
Alegra’t company de bord, alegra’t!
(Content fins l’ànima a l’hora de la mort jo ploro,)
la nostra vida s’ha acabat, la nostra vida comença,
deixem el llarg, llarg ancoratge,
per fi el vaixell és lliure, es posa en marxa!
Prest s’allunya de la costa,
alegra’t company de bord, alegra’t.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2016 by Salvador Pila, (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.
    Contact: 

Based on:

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This text was added to the website: 2016-02-11
Line count: 7
Word count: 49

Translation © by Salvador Pila