by
Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933)
Mastery
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE
I would not have a god come in
To shield me suddenly from sin,
And set my house of life to rights;
Nor angels with bright burning wings
Ordering my earthly thoughts and things;
Rather my own frail guttering lights
Wind blown and nearly beaten out;
Rather the terror of the nights
And long, sick groping after doubt;
Rather be lost than let my soul
Slip vaguely from my own control --
Of my own spirit let me be
In sole though feeble mastery.
Confirmed with Sara Teasdale, Love Songs, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1917, page 48.
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Maîtrise", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-02-13
Line count: 13
Word count: 83
Maîtrise
Language: French (Français)  after the English
Je ne voudrais pas qu'un dieu vînt
Pour me protéger soudain du péché,
Et mettre la maison de ma vie en ordre ;
Ni des anges aux ailes flamboyantes
Mettant en ordre mes pensées et objets terrestres ;
Plutôt mes propres fragiles lumières vacillantes
Malmenées par le vent et presque étouffées ;
Plutôt la terreur des nuits
Et un long et dégoûtant tâtonnement dans le doute ;
Plutôt être perdue que de laisser mon âme
Glisser vaguement hors de mon propre contrôle.
De mon propre esprit, laissez-moi avoir
Seule la maîtrise, si faible soit-elle.
Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2015 by Pierre Mathé, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2015-10-13
Line count: 13
Word count: 94