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Mother, I shall weave a chain of pearls for thy neck with my tears of sorrow. The stars have wrought their anklets of light to deck thy feet, but mine will hang upon thy breast. Wealth and fame come from thee and it is for thee to give or to withhold them. But this my sorrow is absolutely mine own, and when I bring it to thee as my offering thou rewardest me with thy grace.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 83, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 83 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Comolata Banerji (189? - 19??), "Mother, I shall weave a chain of pearls", 1926 [ voice and piano ], from Song Offerings, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947), "My Tears of Sorrow - Mother, I shall weave a chain of pearls", 1999 [ SATB chorus and string quartet ], from The Golden Harp, no. 6a [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 10
Word count: 76
Mutter, ich werde dir ein Perlenhalsband knüpfen aus meinen Kummertränen. Die Sterne haben Lichtgeschmeide dir geschmiedet, zu zieren deinen Fuß, doch mein Geschmeide schmücket deine Brust. Fülle und Glanz kommen von dir, und du allein kannst sie verleihen, sie versagen. Doch dieser Kummer ist mein Kummer ganz und gar, und wenn ich ihn als Opfer bringe dar, belohnst du mich mit deiner Gnade.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2014 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 83, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 83 [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2014-07-11
Line count: 10
Word count: 63