From the Portugese | In moments to delight devoted | In moments to delight devoted

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Translation by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)

In moments to delight devoted

(Sung text for setting by G. Tailleferre)

Language: English after the Portuguese (Português)

Our translations: FRE

In moments to delight devoted 
  «My life» with tenderest tone you cry;
Dear words! on which my heart had doted,
  If Youth could neither fade or die. 

To Death even hours like these must roll,
  Ah! then repeat those accents never;
Or change «my Life» into «my Soul»
  Which, like my Love, exists for ever.

Note: in 1815, Byron wrote the following lines in Lady Lansdowne's album, at Bowood (a note by Mr Richard Edgecombe, in Notes and Queries, Sixth Series, vii. 46):

"In moments to delight devoted
⁠'My Life!' is still the name you give,
Dear words! on which my heart had doted
⁠Had Man an endless term to live.

But, ah! so swift the seasons roll
⁠That name must be repeated never,
For 'Life' in future say, 'My Soul,'
⁠Which like my love exists for ever.

Composition:

Germaine Tailleferre

Text Authorship:

by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "From the Portugese", appears in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, a Romaunt: and other Poems, in Poems, first published 1814 [an adaptation]

Based on:

a text in Portuguese (Português) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist
- Go to the text page.

See other settings of this text.

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

GER German (Deutsch) (Friedrich Christian Diez) , "Aus dem Portugiesischen"

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-04-07
Line count: 8
Word count: 55