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

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Szymanowski adds "My dove, my beautiful one!"

Text Authorship:

• by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), appears in Chamber Music, no. 14, first published 1907 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by David Arditti (b. 1964), no title, op. 20 no. 9 (1998) [ tenor and string quartet ], from Chamber Music, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by James Brown , "My dove, my beautiful one" [ tenor or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by David Del Tredici (1937 - 2023), "Dove song", 1958-60, published 1974 [ voice and piano ], from Four Songs on Texts of James Joyce, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Matthew Emery (b. 1991), "My fair one", from Four Settings of James Joyce, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ross Lee Finney (1906 - 1997), "My dove, my beautiful one ", 1952, published 1985, first performed 1975 [ voice and piano ], from Chamber Music, no. 14, Henmar Press [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jack Marius Jarrett (b. 1934), "My dove, my beautiful one", published 1965 [ SATB chorus and piano ], from Love's Counsel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hugo Kauder (1888 - 1972), "My dove, my beautiful one", published 1955 [ soprano, alto, and tenor with string quartet ], from Ten Poems [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Kurt) Rudolf Mengelberg (1892 - 1959), "My dove, my beautiful one", published 1960 [ medium voice and piano ], from Chamber music, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Amadeus Pisk (1893 - 1990), "My dove, my beautiful one", op. 101 no. ? [ tenor and piano ], from Songs from "Chamber Music" by James Joyce [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hermann Reutter (1900 - 1985), "My dove, my beautiful one", 1972 [ low male voice and piano ], from Chamber Music, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Barry Seaman (b. 1946), "My dove, my beautiful one ", 1981 [ voice and piano ], from Chamber Music Book I, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Irwin Spector (b. 1916), "My dove, my beautiful one" [ medium voice, oboe, viola, and piano ], from Songs of Love and Music [sung text not yet checked]
• by Conrad Susa (b. 1935), "My dove, my beautiful one", published 1973 [ satb chorus and piano ], from Chamber Music [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karol Maciej Szymanowski (1882 - 1937), "My dove, my beautiful one", op. 54 no. 4, published 1926 [ voice and piano ], from Pieśni do słów Jamesa Joyce'a, no. 4, also set in Polish (Polski) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Graham Martin Treacher (b. 1932), "The dove", published 1963 [ three soli and 2-part children's chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894 - 1980) ; composed by Karol Maciej Szymanowski.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 70