Wenn Du alt bist | Wenn alt Du bist und grau, und voll von Schlaf

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by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

Translation © by Walter A. Aue

The Pilgrim Soul

(Sung text for setting by G. Bachlund)

See original

Language: English

Our translations: CHI FRE GER HUN ITA

When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false and true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2 of the original text.

Composition:

Gary Bachlund

Text Authorship:

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "When you are old", appears in The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics, appears in The Rose, first published 1892

See other settings of this text.

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

CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "Wenn Du alt bist", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Quando ormai sarai vecchia, e grigia e sonnolenta", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Garth Baxter

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 102

Wenn Du alt bist

(Sung text translation for setting by G. Bachlund)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Wenn alt Du bist und grau, und voll von Schlaf,
und nickst bei dem Kamin, nimm vom Regal
dies Buch und lies und träume, wie einmal
Dein Auge sanft aus tiefem Schatten traf:

Wie viele liebten solcher Günste Blick
und Deine Schönheit, ehrlich oder nicht;
doch Deine Pilgerseel' und spät' Gesicht
hat einer nur geliebt im Mißgeschick.

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2 of the original text.

Text Authorship:

Singable translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2010 by Walter A. Aue, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Walter A. Aue. Contact: waue (AT) dal (DOT) ca
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Based on:

a text in English by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "When you are old", appears in The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics, appears in The Rose, first published 1892
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This text was added to the website: 2010-03-26
Line count: 12
Word count: 83