by Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985)
Translation by Sophy Schulman
Mine alone, is the country in my soul
Language: English  after the French (Français)
Chosen for Diff
Mine alone Is the country in my soul I enter there without a passport As if it is my home. It sees my sadness And my solitude It lulls me to sleep And covers me with a heavy perfume. In me gardens bloom. The flowers are my creations The streets belong to me But there are no houses, They were destroyed in their infancy. The inhabitants roam the air In search of a home; They dwell in my soul. For this reason I smile When my sun barely shines Or cry Like a light rain In the night. There was a time when I had two heads. There was a time when these two faces Covered themselves in an amorous dew And dissolved into the perfume of a rose. At present it seems to me That even when I retreat I press on Toward a lofty portal Behind which stretch out walls Where sleep faint thunder And shattered bolts of lighting. Mine alone Is the country found in my soul.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985), "Seul est mien" [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 Anna Dobrucka (b. 1989), "Mine alone, is the country in my soul", 2024-2025 [ countertenor and mixed chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-08-12
Line count: 34
Word count: 170