by John Fletcher (1579 - 1625)
Translation by Thomas d'Urfey (1653 - 1723)

I'll sail upon the dog‑star
 (Sung text for setting by B. Britten)
 Matches base text
Language: English  after the English 
Our translations:  CAT CHI
I'll sail upon the Dog Star,
And then pursue the morning,
I'll chase the moon 'till it be noon,
But I'll make her leave her horning.

I'll climb the frosty mountain,
And there I'll coin the weather;
I'll tear the rainbow from the sky,
And tie both ends together.

The stars pluck from their orbs, too,
And crowd them in my budget!
And whether I'm a roaring boy,
Let all the nations judge it.

Composition:

    Set to music by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "I'll sail upon the dog-star", 1947 [ voice and piano ], a realization of the Purcell song. Confirmed with a CD booklet

Text Authorship:

Based on:

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Navegaré damunt l’estel de Sírius", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , "我在天狼星航行", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Virginia Knight

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 74