Heaven has shed a tear that meant to lose itself in the sea; but the mussel came and locked it in: you shall now be my pearl. You should not fear the waves; I will carry you peacefully through. O you my pain, you my joy, you tear of heaven in my bosom! Heaven grant that with a pure soul I may guard the purest of your tears.
Pearls, tears of the sea
Song Cycle by Bruce Adolphe (b. 1955)
1. Heaven has shed a tear  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by Emily Ezust (b. 1972), "Heaven has shed a tear", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), no title, appears in Lyrische Gedichte, in 3. Liebesfrühling, in 1. Erster Strauß. Erwacht, no. 4
Go to the single-text view
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]IMPORTANT NOTE: The material directly above is protected by copyright and appears here by special permission. If you wish to copy it and distribute it, you must obtain permission or you will be breaking the law. Once you have permission, you must give credit to the author and display the copyright symbol ©. Copyright infringement is a criminal offense under international law.
2. The sea hath its pearls  [sung text not yet checked]
The sea hath its pearls, The heaven hath its stars; But my heart, my heart, My heart has its love. Great are the sea and the heaven; Yet greater is my heart, And fairer than pearls and stars Flashes and beams my love. Thou little, youthful maiden, Come unto my great heart; My heart, and the sea and the heaven Are melting away [with]1 love!
Authorship:
- by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "The sea hath its pearls", appears in The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems, first published 1846 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Nordsee, in Erster Zyklus, in 7. Nachts in der Kajüte, no. 1
See other settings of this text.
View original text (without footnotes)1 White: "for"
Researcher for this text: Joanna Lonergan