Language: English 
Maid of Athens, ere we part,
Give, oh give me back my heart!
Or, since that has left my breast,
Keep it now, and take the rest!
Hear my vow before I go,
Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ.
 
By those tresses unconfined,
Woo'd by each Ægean wind;
By those lids whose jetty fringe
Kiss thy soft cheeks' blooming tinge;
By those wild eyes like the roe,
Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ.
 
By that lip I long to taste;
By that zone-encircled waist;
By all the token-flowers that tell
What words can never speak so well;
By love's alternate joy and woe,
Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ.
 
Maid of Athens! I am gone:
Think of me, sweet! when alone.
Though I fly to Istambol,
Athens holds my heart and soul:
Can I cease to love thee? No! 
Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ.

Note: Byron translated the Greek refrain as "My life, I love thee." On the Coulthard score, it is translated "My soul, I love thee."

Composition:

    Set to music by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "The Maid of Athens", CG 406 (1872), first performed 1872 [ voice and piano ], London, Godard, also set in French (Français)

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-01
Line count: 24
Word count: 137