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Sail on, sail on, thou fearless bark, Wherever blows the welcome wind; It cannot lead to scenes more dark, More sad than those we leave behind. Each smiling billow seems to say "Though death beneath our surface be, Less cold we are, less false than they, Whose smiling wrecked thy hopes and thee." Sail on, sail on, through endless space, Through calm, through tempest, stop no more; The stormiest sea's a resting-place To him who leaves such hearts on shore. Or, if some desert land we meet, Where never yet false-hearted men Profaned a world, that else were sweet, Then rest thee, bark, but not till then.
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "Sail on, sail on", appears in Irish Melodies [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Sail on, sail on", note: arrangement of a tune called The Hummingbird of the Barn [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Axel Fernström (1897 - 1961), "Sail on, sail on", op. 62 no. 4 (1942) [ coloratura soprano and string quintet or orchestra ], from Songs of the Sea, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Fanny (Franziska) von Hoffnaaß, née Jägerhuber (1831 - 1892) ; composed by Joseph Rheinberger.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Navega, navega", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , "扬帆，扬帆", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Vogue, vogue", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-10-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 107
Vogue, vogue, barque intrépide, Poussée par le souffle de ce vent bienvenu ; Il ne peut mener à des scènes plus sombres, Plus tristes que celles que nous laissons derrière. Chaque vague qui passe semble dire « Bien que la mort puisse être sous notre surface, Nous sommes moins froides, moins fausses que ceux Dont le sourire t'a détruit, toi et tes espoirs. » Vogue, vogue, dans l'espace sans fin, Dans les calmes, dans les tempêtes, ne t'arrête plus : La mer la plus démontée est un lieu de repos Pour celui qui a laissé un tel cœur sur la côte. Ou alors, si nous abordons quelque pays désert, Où jamais encore des hommes au cœur perfide N'ont profané ce monde, qui serait alors doux, Alors arrête-toi, barque, mais pas avant.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Pierre Mathé, (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:
- a text in English by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "Sail on, sail on", appears in Irish Melodies
This text was added to the website: 2014-04-16
Line count: 16
Word count: 129