by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), as Fiona Macleod
I‑Brasîl
Language: English
There's sorrow on the wind, my grief, there's sorrow on the wind, Old and grey! Old and grey! I hear it whispering, calling, where the last stars touch the sea, where the cloud creeps down the hill, and the leaf shakes on the tree. There's sorrow on the wind and it's calling low to me "Come away! Come away! Come away!" There's sorrow in the world, O wind, there's sorrow in my heart Night and day, Night and day. So why should I not listen to the song you sing to me? The hill cloud falls away in rain, the leaf whirls from the tree, And peace may live in I-Brasîl where the last stars touch the sea, Far away, far away.
Discussed in Barbara Freitag's Hy Brasil: The Metamorphosis of an Island, Rodopi, 2013, 231-33.
Text Authorship:
- by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), as Fiona Macleod, "I-Brasîl", appears in The Hour of Beauty, first published 1907 [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 Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "I-Brasîl", 1913, published 1915 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Gesänge, no. 3, Köln am Rhein, Tischer und Jagenberg, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by David Moule-Evans (b. 1905), "I-Brasîl", published c1946 [ soprano and piano ], from Two Celtic Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "I-Brasîl", op. 24 (1943) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Jelka Rosen (Delius) (1868 - 1935) ; composed by Frederick Delius.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-24
Line count: 20
Word count: 122