by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation by Jan Kasprowicz (1860 - 1926)
Speak to me, my love!
Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)
Speak to me, my love! Tell me in words what you sang. The night is dark. The stars are lost in clouds. The wind is sighing through the leaves. I will let loose my hair. My blue cloak will cling round me like [night]1. I will clasp your head to my bosom; And there in the sweet loneliness murmur on your heart. I will shut my eyes and listen. I will not look in your face. When your words are ended, we will sit still and silent. Only the trees will whisper in the dark. The night will pale. The day will dawn. We shall look at each other's eyes and go on our different paths. Speak to me, my love! Tell me in words what you sang.
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Bridge: "the night"
Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in The Gardener, no. 29, first published 1915 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941) [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), "Speak to me, my love!", 1924, published 1925 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Three Songs [1925/1926], no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ann Marie Callaway (b. 1949), "Speak to me, my love", 2001 [ soprano, bass, chorus, and piano ], from Songs From the Gardener, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Matthew Emery (b. 1991), "Speak to me my love ", 2012, first performed 2013 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], Houston, Alliance Music AMP-0929 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Margaret Carter Metcalf (d. 1957), "Speak to me, my love!", 1921 [ high voice and piano ], from Four Poems, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Patrick Burgan, Thierry Machuel, Philippe Schœller.
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- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Henriette Mirabaud-Thorens (1881 - 1943) ; composed by Isidore Cohen, as Isidore de Lara.
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- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Jan Śliwiński (1884 - 1950) , appears in Rabindranath Tagore. Der Gärtner, no. 29, first published 1916 ; composed by Ján Móry, Alexander Zemlinsky.
- Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Franco Alfano.
- Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Jan Kasprowicz (1860 - 1926) , first published 1923 ; composed by Grażyna Bacewicz.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Parle-moi, mon amour !", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 128
Mów do mnie, o miły!
Language: Polish (Polski) after the English
Mów do mnie, o miły! Powiedz mi w słowach to, co śpiewałeś. Noc jest ciemna. Gwiazdy utonęły w obłokach. Wiatr jęczy między liściwiem. Rozplotę włosy. Płaszcz mój błękitny otuli mnie jak noc. Głowę twą przycisnę do piersi; i tu, w tej błogiej samotni, szeptaj mi o swym sercu. Zamknę oczy i będę słuchała. Nie spojrzę ci w oblicze. Gdy skończą się twoje słowa, siedzieć będziemy spokojni i milczący. Tylko drzewa szemrzeć będą w ciemności. Noc zblednie. Nadejdzie brzask dnia. Spojrzymy sobie w oczy i każde pójdzie swą drogą. Mów do mnie, o miły! Powiedz mi w słowach to, co śpiewałeś.
Text Authorship:
- by Jan Kasprowicz (1860 - 1926), first published 1923 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in The Gardener, no. 29, first published 1915
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941) [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Grażyna Bacewicz (1909 - 1969), "Mów do mnie, o miły!", 1936. [soprano and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-19
Line count: 21
Word count: 100