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by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
Translation © by Geart van der Meer
What lips my lips have kissed, and...
Language: English
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why, I have forgotten, and what arms have lain Under my head till morning; but the rain Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh Upon the glass and listen for reply, And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain For unremembered lads that not again Will turn to me at midnight with a cry. Thus in winter stands the lonely tree, Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one, Yet knows its boughs more silent than before: I cannot say what loves have come and gone, I only know that summer sang in me A little while, that in me sings no more.
About the headline (FAQ)
First published in Vanity Fair, November 1920Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "Sonnet XLIII", appears in The Harp-Weaver and other poems, in Sonnets from an Ungrafted Tree, first published 1923 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Carl Alette (b. 1922), "What lips my lips have kissed", published 1963 [ medium voice and piano ], from Three Secular Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "What lips my lips have kissed", 1991 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jack Hamilton Beeson (b. 1921), "What lips my lips have kissed", 1992 [ voice and piano ], from Two Millay Sonnets, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990), "What lips my lips have kissed", published 1977 [ vocal sextet with orchestra ], from Songfest, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Margaret Bonds (1913 - 1972), "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed" [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs on poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by David Del Tredici (1937 - 2023), "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed", subtitle: "Song of Loss and Pain", 2004, first performed 2004 [ voice and piano ], from On Wings of Song, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jonathan Dove (b. 1959), "What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why", 2015, first performed 2015 [ voice and piano ], from Nights Not Spent Alone, no. 2, confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Michael Armand Fink (b. 1939), "What lips my lips have kissed", published 1963 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jake Heggie (b. 1961), "What lips my lips have kissed", 1998, first performed 1998 [ mezzo-soprano, cello and piano ], from Before the Storm, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alva Henderson (b. 1940), "What lips my lips have kissed...", 1994, from Love is not all... , no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert Kelly (b. 1916), "What lips my lips have kissed", 1964 [ soprano and piano ], from Song Cycle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Manno (b. 1944), "What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why", published 1975 [ soprano, piano ], from Portrait of Millay, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by William Mayer (b. 1925), "What lips my lips have kissed" [ mezzo-soprano, flute, and harp ], from Passage [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jay Poûhe (b. 1935), "What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why", published 1971 [ medium voice and piano ], from The Amorous Line, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ian Venables (b. 1955), "At Midnight", op. 28 (Two Songs) no. 2 (1997), first performed 1998 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRI Frisian [singable] (Geart van der Meer) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "Welch' Lippen meine küßten ( 43. Sonett )", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Robert Manno
This text was added to the website: 2005-06-08
Line count: 14
Word count: 116
Wat lippen mines prangen, wêr, wêrom
Language: Frisian after the English
Wat lippen mines prangen, wêr, wêrom, De earms ûnder myn holle oant de moarn - Dêrfan is lang mij al it byld ûntstoarn. Mar no - ’t is nacht, it reint - gean spoeken om En tikje’ om antwurd suchtsjend op myn rút, En yn myn hart roert him it stille sear Om jonges, lang fergetten, dy’t noait mear Har nachtlik roppen smoare yn in tút. De beam dy’t winters sa ferlitten stiet Wit neat mear fan de fûgels fan alear - Mar wol: syn kroan is stiller as er wie. Wat leafde kaam, of gie, wit ik net mear - Mar wol, de simmer song yn mij syn liet, In koarte tiid - in lûd dat sûnt fergie.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Singable translation from English to Frisian copyright © 2015 by Geart van der Meer, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "Sonnet XLIII", appears in The Harp-Weaver and other poems, in Sonnets from an Ungrafted Tree, first published 1923
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 113