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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 or 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:
- Set to music by Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), "When you are old", 1919, published 1920, stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ]
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
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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
Midőn ősz, öregkor álma száll rád,
Ha tűzre bólogatsz – fogd e verset,
Lassan olvasd; idézd föl szemednek
Simogató fényét, éles árnyát!
Hányan szerették édes bájaid
S a szépséged, álnokul vagy híven?
De volt egy, aki bolyongó szíved
Szerette, s arcod apró ráncait.
...
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Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2 of the original text.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Hungarian (Magyar) copyright © 2015 by Tamás Rédey, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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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: 2015-03-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 65