by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)
Translation by Ivan Ivanovich Kozlov (1779 - 1840)

In moments to delight devoted
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.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, a Romaunt: and other Poems, seventh Edition, London: John Murray, 1814, page 245. Appears in Poems. See also Another Version, published 1832.

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.


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

  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • 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

В порыве нежности сердечной
 (Sung text for setting by N. Rimsky-Korsakov)
 See original
Language: Russian (Русский)  after the English 
Our translations:  ENG
В poryve нежности сердечной
ты жизнью друга назвала:
привет бесценный, если б вечно
живая молодость цвела.

К могиле все летит стрелою,
и ты, меня лаская вновь,
зови не жизнью, а душою,
бессмертной, как моя любовь.

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Note on Transliterations

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

  • ENG English (Sergey Rybin) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-11
Line count: 8
Word count: 37