At that hour when all things have repose, O lonely watcher of the skies, Do you hear the night wind and the sighs Of harps playing unto Love to unclose The pale gates of sunrise? When all things repose, do you alone Awake to hear the sweet harps play To Love before him on his way, And the night wind answering in antiphon Till night is overgone? Play on, invisible harps, unto Love, Whose way in heaven is aglow At that hour when soft lights come and go, Soft sweet music in the air above And in the earth below.
Songs of Love and Music
Song Cycle by Irwin Spector (b. 1916)
?. At that hour when all things have repose  [sung text not yet checked]
Text Authorship:
- by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), no title, appears in Chamber Music, no. 3, first published 1907
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
?. Strings in the earth and air  [sung text not yet checked]
Strings in the earth and air Make music sweet; Strings by the river where The willows meet. There's music along the river [For Love wanders there,]1 Pale [flowers]2 on his mantle, Dark leaves on his hair. All softly playing, With head to [the]3 music bent, And fingers straying Upon an instrument.
Text Authorship:
- by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), appears in Chamber Music, no. 1, 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
1 omitted by Berio
2 Coulthard: "flow'rs"
3 omitted by Coulthard
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
?. My dove, my beautiful one  [sung text not yet checked]
My dove, my beautiful one, Arise, arise! The night-dew lies Upon my lips and eyes. The odorous winds are weaving A music of sighs: Arise, arise, My dove, my beautiful one! I wait by the cedar tree, My sister, my love. White breast of the dove, My breast shall be your bed. The pale dew lies Like a veil on my head. My fair one, my fair dove, Arise, arise!1
Text Authorship:
- by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), appears in Chamber Music, no. 14, 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
1 Szymanowski adds "My dove, my beautiful one!"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
?. Lean out of the window  [sung text not yet checked]
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):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
?. Now, O now, in this brown land  [sung text not yet checked]
Now, O now, in this brown land Where Love did so sweet music make We two shall wander, hand in hand, Forbearing for old friendship' sake, Nor grieve because our love was gay Which now is ended in this way. A rogue in red and yellow dress Is knocking, knocking at the tree; And all around our loneliness The wind is whistling merrily. The leaves -- - they do not sigh at all When the year takes them in the fall. Now, O now, we hear no more The vilanelle and roundelay! Yet will we kiss, sweetheart, before We take sad leave at close of day. Grieve not, sweetheart, for anything -- - The year, the year is gathering.
Text Authorship:
- by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), no title, appears in Chamber Music, no. 33, 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