On The Wings of Love

Song Cycle by Ian Venables (b. 1955)

1. Ionian Song
(Sung text)

Language: English

Just because we have broken their statues
 [ ... ]

Text Authorship:

by George Barbanis , copyright ©

Based on:

a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Constantine P. Cavafy (1863 - 1933) [text unavailable]
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2. The Moon Sails Out
(Sung text)

Language: English

When the moon sails out
 [ ... ]

Text 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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3. Sonnet XI
(Sung text)

Language: English

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.

Text 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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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

4. Epitaph
(Sung text)

Language: English

Little spirit
 [ ... ]

Text Authorship:

by Royston Lambert (1932 - 1982), copyright ©

Based on:

a text in Latin possibly by Publius Aelius Hadrianus (76 - 138)
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5. When you are Old
(Sung text)

Language: English

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 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 hath fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead 
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Text 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):

Researcher for this page: Garth Baxter

Total word count: 396

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On The Wings of Love

Song Cycle by Ian Venables (b. 1955)

1. Ionian Song (Sung text)

2. The Moon Sails Out (Sung text)

3. Sonnet XI (Sung text)

4. Epitaph (Sung text)

5. When you are Old (Sung text)

1. Ionian Song
(Sung text)

2. The Moon Sails Out
(Sung text)

3. Sonnet XI
(Sung text)

4. Epitaph
(Sung text)

5. When you are Old
(Sung text)