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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
Translation © by Alfredo García

The Ivy‑Wife
Language: English 
Our translations:  SPA
I longed to love a full-boughed beech
  And be as high as he:
I stretched an arm within his reach,
  And signalled unity.
But with his drip he forced a breach,
  And tried to poison me.
 
I gave the grasp of partnership
  To one of other race -	
A plane: he barked him strip by strip
  From upper bough to base;
And me therewith; for gone my grip,
  My arms could not enlace.
 
In new affection next I strove
  To coll an ash I saw,
And he in trust received my love;
  Till with my soft green claw
I cramped and bound him as I wove...
  Such was my love: ha-ha!
 
By this I gained his strength and height
  Without his rivalry.
But in my triumph I lost sight
  Of afterhaps. Soon he,
Being bark-bound, flagged, snapped, fell outright,
  And in his fall felled me!

Text Authorship:

  • by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The Ivy-Wife", appears in Wessex Poems and Other Verses, first published 1898 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Ben Moore (b. 1960), "The Ivy-Wife" [ medium-high voice and piano ], from 14 Songs, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Alfredo García) , "La esposa hiedra", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-06-14
Line count: 24
Word count: 144

La esposa hiedra
Language: Spanish (Español)  after the English 
 Deseaba yo el amor de un haya frondosa
 y ser tan alta como ella:
 extendí un brazo a su lado,
 y señalé la unión.
 Pero con sus gotas abrió una brecha,
 e intentó envenenarme.

 Abracé como compañero
 a uno de otra especie -
 Un plátano: él lo descortezó tira a tira
 desde la rama más alta hasta la base;
 y a mí con él; pues perdido el agarre,
 mis brazos no podían enroscarse.

 Con renovado amor me esforcé después
 por asirme a un fresno que vi,
 y él, confiado, aceptó mi amor;
 hasta que con mi suave y verde garra
 le apreté y le rodeé mientras trepaba
 Tal era mi amor: ¡ja!

 Así conseguí su fuerza y su altura
 sin su rivalidad.
 pero en mi triunfo perdí de vista
 lo que vendría después. Pronto él,
 ceñido por la corteza, se debilitó, se quebró y cayó,
 ¡y en su caída me derribó!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to Spanish (Español) copyright © 2004 by Alfredo García, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

    Alfredo García.  Contact: alfredogarcia (AT) alfredogarcia (DOT) com

    If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in English by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The Ivy-Wife", appears in Wessex Poems and Other Verses, first published 1898
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2004-06-14
Line count: 24
Word count: 151

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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