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Come lovely and soothing death,
Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving,
In the day, in the night, to all, to each,
Sooner or later, delicate death.
Prais'd be the fathomless universe,
For life and joy, and for objects and knowledge curious;
And for love, sweet love -- But praise! praise!
For the sure-enwinding arms of cool-enfolding Death.
...
Over the tree-tops I float thee a song!
Over the rising and sinking waves -- over the myriad fields, and the prairies wide;
Over the dense-pack'd cities all, and the teeming wharves and ways,
I float this carol with joy, with joy to thee, O Death!
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,8 of the original text.
Composition:
- Set to music by Simon Sargon (1938 - 2022), "Come lovely and soothing death", 2000, stanzas 1-2,8 [ voice and piano ], from Intimations of Mortality, no. 2
Text Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "Death carol", appears in Memories of President Lincoln, in When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, no. 16
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail , Gustav Ringel
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-13
Line count: 28
Word count: 261
Viens mort adorable et apaisante,
Ondoie autour du monde, arrivant sereinement, arrivant,
Le jour, la nuit, pour tous, pour chacun,
Plus tôt ou plus tard, mort délicate.
Loué soit l'univers insondable,
Pour la vie et la joie, et pour les objets et la connaissance ;
Et pour l'amour, le doux amour -- Mais louange ! louange ! louange !
Pour les bras qui entourent sûrement de la Mort qui enveloppe fraîchement.
...
Au-dessus de la cime des arbres je fais flotter un chant !
Au-dessus des vagues qui montent et descendent -- au-dessus de la myriade de champs, et des vastes prairies ;
Au-dessus de toutes les cités denses, et des faubourgs grouillants et des chemins,
Je fais flotter ce chant joyeux avec joie, avec joie à toi, ô mort !
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Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,8 of the original text.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2017 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in English by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "Death carol", appears in Memories of President Lincoln, in When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, no. 16
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This text was added to the website: 2017-05-15
Line count: 28
Word count: 292