Ó, duše drahá, jedinká
Language: Czech (Čeština)
Our translations: ENG ENG
Ó, duše drahá, jedinká,
Jež v srdci žiješ dosuď:
Má oblétá Tě [vzpomínka]1,
Ač dělí nás zlý osud.
Ó kéž jsem zpěvnou labutí,
Já zaletěl bych k Tobě:
A v posledním bych vzdechnutí
Ti vypěl srdce v mdlobě.
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Confirmed with Cypřiše. Sbírka básní lyrických a epických od Gustava Pflegera (Moravského), V Praze (Prague) : Nákladem knihkupectvi: I. L. Kober, 1862, page 58. Note: in stanza 1, line 4, words 1-3, the Bärenreiter edition of Dvořák's setting (2013) follows the original ("Ač dělí nás") but the website antonin-dvorak.cz shows "Ač nás dělí". In addition, both use the spelling "dosud" instead of "dosuď" (stanza 1, line 2, word 5).
1 Dvořák: "myšlenka"
Text Authorship:
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), "Ó, duše drahá, jedinká", B. 11 no. 4 (1865) [ voice and piano ], from Cypřiše, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Ó, duše drahá, jedinká", op. 83 no. 8, from Písně milostné, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Djordje Nesic) (Hannah Sharene Penn) , "Oh, you, my soul's only dear one", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Patrick John Corness) , "O dear soul, the only one true", 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: 38
Oh, you, my soul's only dear one
Language: English  after the Czech (Čeština)
Oh, you, my soul's only dear one,
Who will live in my heart forever:
My thoughts circle around you,
Even though cruel fate separates us.
Oh, if I were a singing swan,
I would fly to you, and with my last breath,
Sing my heart out to you,
Ah, with my last breath.
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.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2007-03-07
Line count: 8
Word count: 53