Just because we have broken their statues [ ... ]
On The Wings of Love
Song Cycle by Ian Venables (b. 1955)
1. Ionian Song  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by George Barbanis , copyright ©
Based on:
- a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Constantine P. Cavafy (1863 - 1933) [text unavailable]
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This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.2. The Moon Sails Out  [sung text checked 1 time]
When the moon sails out [ ... ]
Authorship:
- by Robert Bly (b. 1926), copyright ©
Based on:
- a text in Spanish (Español) by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936), "La luna asoma", appears in Canciones, in Canciones de luna, first published 1921-4
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This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.3. Sonnet XI  [sung text checked 1 time]
First in my verse, I hitherto have set The burning love in which my passions glow, But now that kinder looks your eyes bestow, All but my constancy I would forget. Even Love himself, whose spirits help avails me yet, Aware how mortal spirits often go From change to change, now stands amazed to know That, loving you, I love without regret. Many there are who burn with hot desires, Yet in the end their self-consuming fires To wisps of smoke or scraps of ash will turn. But in their squalor let such lovers lie; I am well pleased if you consent to learn My fire, till I am dead, will never die.
Authorship:
- by Gilbert Farm Cunningham (1900 - 1967)
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Jean de Sponde (1557 - 1595), "Sonnet XI"
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]4. Epitaph  [sung text checked 1 time]
Little spirit [ ... ]
Authorship:
- by Royston Lambert (1932 - 1982), copyright ©
Based on:
- a text in Latin possibly by Publius Aelius Hadrianus (76 - 138)
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This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.5. When you are Old  [sung text checked 1 time]
When you are old and gray and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false [or]1 true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face; And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how love [fled]2 And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "When you are old", appears in The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics, appears in The Rose, first published 1892
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "Wenn Du alt bist", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Quando ormai sarai vecchia, e grigia e sonnolenta", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with The Poetical Works of William B. Yeats in two volumes, volume 1 : Lyrical Poems, The Macmillan Company, New York and London, 1906, page 179. Note: this poem is often described as a free adaptation of Ronsard's Quand vous serez bien vieille.
1 Bachlund: "and"2 Venables: "hath fled"
Researcher for this page: Garth Baxter