By the sweet power of your eyes | I would gladly, gladly perish

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by Gustav Pfleger-Moravský (1833 - 1875)

Translation © by Djordje Nesic, Hannah Sharene Penn

V té sladké moci očí Tvých

Language: Czech (Čeština)

Our translations: ENG ENG

V té sladké moci očí Tvých
Jak rád bych zahynul,
Kdyby mně k životu jen smích
Rtů krásných nekynul.

Však tu smrť sladkou zvolím hned
S tou láskou ve hrudí:
Když mě jen ten Tvůj smavý ret
K životu probudí.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Cypřiše. Sbírka básní lyrických a epických od Gustava Pflegera (Moravského), V Praze (Prague) : Nákladem knihkupectvi: I. L. Kober, 1862, page 56. Note: Dvořák's setting uses the spelling "smrt" in stanza 2, line 1, word 3.

Text Authorship:

by Gustav Pfleger-Moravský (1833 - 1875), no title, appears in Cypřiše. Sbírka básní lyrických a epických, in 1. Dozvuky lyrické, in 2. Písně, 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 Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "V té sladké moci očí tvých", B. 11 no. 2 (1865) [ voice and piano ], from Cypřiše, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "V té sladké moci očí tvých", op. 83 no. 7, from Písně milostné, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Djordje Nesic) (Hannah Sharene Penn) , "By the sweet power of your eyes", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Patrick John Corness) , "I’m in such sweet thrall to your eyes", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Patrick John Corness

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 40

By the sweet power of your eyes

Language: English after the Czech (Čeština)

I would gladly, gladly perish
By the sweet power of your eyes,
If your beautiful smile did not
Bring me back to life.

I would always happily choose that sweet death
With this love, this love in my breast:
But only if I knew that your sweet lips
Would wake me from my rest.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Czech (Čeština) to English copyright © 2006 by Djordje Nesic and Hannah Sharene Penn, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Czech (Čeština) by Gustav Pfleger-Moravský (1833 - 1875), no title, appears in Cypřiše. Sbírka básní lyrických a epických, in 1. Dozvuky lyrické, in 2. Písně, no. 2
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2007-03-07
Line count: 8
Word count: 54