Watching the needleboats at San Sabba | Watching the needleboats at San Saba | I heard their young hearts crying

by James Joyce (1882 - 1941)

I heard their young hearts crying

Language: English

Available translation(s): FRE GER

I heard their young hearts crying
Loveward above the glancing oar
And heard the prairie grasses sighing:
No more, return no more!

O hearts, O sighing grasses,
Vainly your loveblown bannerets mourn!
No more will the wild wind that passes
Return, no more return.

About the headline (FAQ)

First published in the Saturday Review, September 1913

Authorship:

by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), "Watching the needleboats at San Sabba", written 1912, appears in Pomes Penyeach, no. 2 [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 Stanley Richard Bate (1913 - 1959), "Watching the needleboats at San Saba", published 1951 [low voice and piano], from Five Songs [
text not verified
]
by Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), "Watching the needleboats at San Saba", published 1933 [voice and piano], from The Joyce Book, no. 2. [
text verified 1 time
]
by Brian Boydell (1917 - 2000), "Watching the needleboats at San Saba", 1936. [low voice and piano] [
text not verified
]
by Robin Field (b. 1935), "I heard their young hearts crying", 1967 [tenor, oboe, and string quartet], from The sly reeds whisper [
text not verified
]
by John Gruen (b. 1927), "Watching the needleboats at San Saba" [voice and piano] [
text not verified
]
by Geert van Keulen (b. 1943), "Watching the needleboats at San Saba", 1943, published 1984, rev. 1984 [soprano, flute (alto flute and piccolo), clarinet (bass clarinet), violin, contrabass, harp, vibraphone (tam-tam), mandolin, and guitar], from Trieste, or Three Poems by James Joyce, no. 2, Amsterdam, Donemus [
text not verified
]

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

Researcher for this text: Barbara Miller

This text was added to the website: 2005-01-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 44