by
James Joyce (1882 - 1941)
On the beach at Fontana
Language: English
Our translations: CHI FRE GER
Wind whines and whines the shingle,
The crazy pierstakes groan;
A senile sea numbers each single
Slimesilvered stone.
From whining wind and colder
Grey sea I wrap him warm
And touch his trembling fineboned shoulder
And boyish arm.
Around us fear, descending
Darkness of fear above
And in my heart how deep unending
Ache of love!
First published in
Poetry, November 1917.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Lorne M. Betts (b. 1918), "On the beach at Fontana", 1952 [ voice and piano ], from Five Songs (1952) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bill Hopkins (b. 1943), "On the beach at Fontana", published 1967 [ soprano, bass clarinet, trumpet, viola, harp ], from Two Poems, no. 2, London, Universal Edition [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jack Marius Jarrett (b. 1934), "On the beach at Fontana", 1964 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from The Unquiet Heart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Geert van Keulen (b. 1943), "On the beach at Fontana", 1943, published 1984, rev. 1984 [ soprano, flute (alto flute and piccolo), clarinet (bass clarinet), violin, contrabass, harp, vibraphone (tam-tam), mandolin, and guitar ], from Trieste, or Three Poems by James Joyce, no. 1, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roger Sessions (1896 - 1985), "On the beach at Fontana", 1929, published 1933 [ high voice and piano ], from The Joyce Book, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , "丰塔纳的海滩上", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Sur la plage à Fontana", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Am Strand von Fontana", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 56
Am Strand von Fontana
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Wind winselt, pfeift winselnd am Kieselstrand,
die irren Pfähle des Pierstegs ächzen;
Eine greise See zählt jeglichen
schleimsilbrigen Stein.
Aus pfeifendem Wind und kälterer
grauer See hüll ich ihn warm
und rühr an seine zitternde zierliche Schulter
und seinen knabenhaften Arm.
Um uns Bangnis, herein bricht
die Dunkelheit aus bangem Oben
und mir im Herzen tief, nie endend,
der Schmerz aus Liebe!
Text Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2014-09-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 62