Three Songs to Poems of James Joyce

Song Cycle by Lorne M. Betts (b. 1918)

?. I hear an army charging upon the land [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English

I hear an army charging upon the land,
  And the thunder of horses plunging, foam about their knees:
Arrogant, in black armour, behind them stand,
  Disdaining the reins, with flutt'ring whips, the charioteers.

They cry unto the night their battlename:
  I moan in sleep when I hear afar their whirling laughter.
They cleave the gloom of dreams, a blinding flame,
  Clanging, clanging upon the heart as upon an anvil.

They come shaking in triumph their long, green hair:
  They come out of the sea and run shouting by the shore.
My heart, have you no wisdom thus to despair?
  My love, my love, why have you left me alone?

Text Authorship:

by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), no title, appears in Chamber Music, no. 36, first published 1907

See other settings of this text.

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

FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Walter Riemer) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

?. Rain has fallen all the day [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English

Rain has fallen all the day.
O come among the laden trees:
The leaves lie thick upon the way
Of [mem'ries.]¹

Staying a little by the way
Of [mem'ries]¹ shall we depart.
Come, my beloved, where I may
Speak to your heart.

Text Authorship:

by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), appears in Chamber Music, no. 32, first published 1907

See other settings of this text.

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

FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Walter Riemer) , "Es hat geregnet", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Sol Crespo) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Szymanowski: "memories"

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

?. Lean out of the window [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English

Lean out of the window,
  Goldenhair,
I heard you singing
  A merry air.

My book is closed;
  I read no more,
Watching the fire dance
  On the floor.

I have left my book,
  I have left my room,
For I heard you singing
  Through the gloom,

Singing and singing
  A merry air.
Lean out of the window,
  Goldenhair.

Text Authorship:

by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), appears in Chamber Music, no. 5, first published 1907

See other settings of this text.

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

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

Total word count: 209