by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)
Indian Serenade Matches original text
Language: English
I arise from dreams of thee In the first sweet sleep of night, When the winds are breathing low, And the stars are shining bright: I arise from dreams of thee, And a spirit in my feet Has led me - who knows how? To thy chamber window, Sweet! The wandering airs they faint On the dark, the silent stream - The Champak odours fail Like sweet thoughts in a dream; The nightingale's complaint, It dies upon her heart; - As I must die on thine, O belovèd as thou art! Oh lift me from the grass! I die! I faint! I fail! Let thy love in kisses rain On my lips and eyelids pale. My cheek is cold and white, alas! My heart beats loud and fast; - Oh! press it to thine own again, Where it will break at last.
Composition:
- Set to music by David Arditti (b. 1964), "Indian Serenade", 1985, first performed 1994, from Three Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, no. 3
Text Authorship:
- by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Lines to an Indian Air"
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Řádky k indické melodii"
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Indische Serenade", copyright © 2004, (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: 24
Word count: 138