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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)
Translation © by Giedrius Prunskus

Give to me the life I love
Language: English 
Our translations:  CAT ITA LIT
Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river -
There's the life for a man like me,
There's the life for ever.

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Or let autumn fall on me
Where afield I linger,
Silencing the bird on tree,
Biting the blue finger.
White as meal the frosty field -
Warm the fireside haven -
Not to autumn will I yield,
Not to winter even!

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I [ask]1 not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   T. Dunhill 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with The Complete Poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson: A Child's Garden of Verses, e-artnow, 2015 (via Google Books).

Note: "lave" = "that which is left"
1 Dunhill: "seek"

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The vagabond", subtitle: "To an air of Schubert", appears in Songs of Travel and other verses, no. 1, first published 1896 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Donald A. Byars , "The vagabond", 1948 [ baritone and piano ], from Songs of Travel [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Noble Cain (1896 - 1977), "The vagabond", published 1932 [ voice and piano ], in the collection Music of Many Lands and Peoples [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Henry) Walford Davies, Sir (1869 - 1941), "The vagabond", published 1931 [ voice and piano ], from Twenty-one songs, no. 21 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Thomas Frederick Dunhill (1877 - 1946), "The vagabond", published 1920 [ unison chorus or voice and piano ], in The Year Book Press Series of Unison and Part Songs, no. 170, London: Ascherberg, Hopwood & Crew Ltd. [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by John Herbert Foulds (1880 - 1939), "The vagabond", op. 1 (Two songs) no. 2 (c1899) [ baritone and piano ], missing [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Martin Kalmanoff (1920 - 2007), "Give me the life I loved", published 1958 [ TTBB chorus or solo voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Jessie L. Pease , "The vagabond", published 1907 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878 - 1937), "The vagabond" [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Georgina Elsie Smith , "The vagabond", 1953, from Songs of Travel, soprano or tenor and piano [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Oley Speaks (1874 - 1948), "The vagabond", published 1922 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by William Armour Thayer (1874 - 1933), "The vagabond", <<1933 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The vagabond", 1904, published 1905, orchestrated 1905 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Travel, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by John Barnes Wells (1880 - 1935), "The vagabond", <<1935 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Francis Brett Young (1884 - 1954), "The vagabond", <<1913 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Il vagabondo", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 186

Leiskit man gyvent savaip
Language: Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba)  after the English 
Leiskit man gyvent savaip,
Kas paliks – telieka,
Duokit dangų virš galvos,
Kelias tolin driekias.
Krūmas žvaigždėta lova bus,
Duonos upėj rasiu – 
Taip gyvens toks kaip aš žmogus,
Taip gyvens per amžius.

Lai likimo smūgiai kirs
Gal negreit, o gal tuoj;
Leiskit žemę man regėt,
Kelias kur vingiuoja.
Turtų, meilės nei vilties,
Nei draugų nenoriu,
Man tereikia vien dangaus,
Kelio, kurs vingiuoja.

Netgi kai ruduo ateis
Kur priglusti rasiu,
Paukščiai medžiuose nutils,
Pirštai mėls nuo šalčio.
Nuo šalnų balti laukai,
Šilta, kur ugnelė,
Man ruduo vieni niekai,
Nebaisi žiema man.

Lai likimo smūgiai kirs
Gal negreit, o gal tuoj;
Leiskit žemę man regėt,
Kelias kur vingiuoja.
Turtų, meilės nei vilties,
Nei draugų nereikia,
Man terūpi vien dangus,
Kelias tolin driekias.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of title(s):
"Give me the life I loved" = "Duok gyvenimą, kurį myliu"
"The vagabond" = "Klajūnas"


Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) copyright © 2023 by Giedrius Prunskus, (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: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in English by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The vagabond", subtitle: "To an air of Schubert", appears in Songs of Travel and other verses, no. 1, first published 1896
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2023-01-26
Line count: 32
Word count: 121

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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