Peace, my heart | Peace, my heart

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Translation by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Peace, my heart

Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)

Our translations: FRE GER

Peace, my heart, 
let the time for the parting be sweet.
Let it not be a death 
but completeness.
Let love melt into memory 
and pain into songs.
Let the flight through the sky end 
in the folding of the wings over the nest.
Let the last touch of your hands be gentle 
like the flower of the night.
Stand still, O Beautiful End, 
for a moment, 
and say your last words in silence.
I bow to you 
and hold up my lamp 
to light you on your way.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in The Gardener, no. 61, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941) [text unavailable]
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Matthew Emery (b. 1991), "Peace, my heart", 2013, first performed 2013 [ soprano and piano or strings ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Matthew Emery (b. 1991), "Peace, my heart", 2011, first performed 2011 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by (Charles William) Eric Fogg (1903 - 1939), "Peace", 1921 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Love and Life, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Alistair Hinton (b. 1950), "Peace, my heart", op. 7 no. 5 (1970) [ high soprano and piano ], from Five Songs of Tagore, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by James F. Hopkins (b. 1939), "Peace, my heart", 1985 [ SATB chorus and orchestra ], from Songs of Eternity, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974), "Peace, my heart", op. 30 no. 2, published 1915 [ soprano and piano ], from Deux poemes d'amour, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Jan Śliwiński (1884 - 1950) , appears in Rabindranath Tagore. Der Gärtner, no. 61, first published 1916 ; composed by Ján Móry, Alexander Zemlinsky.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-01-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 89