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by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)
Translation by Jaroslav Vrchlický (1853 - 1912)

Swifter far than summers flight
Language: English 
Swifter far than summers flight -
Swifter far than youth's delight -
Swifter far than happy night,
Art thou come and gone -
As the earth when leaves are dead,
As the night when sleep is sped,
As the heart when joy is fled,
I am left lone, alone.

The swallow summer comes again -
The owlet night resumes her reign -
But the wild-swan youth is fain
To fly with thee, false as thou. -
My heart each day desires the morrow;
Sleep itself is turned to sorrow;
Vainly would my winter borrow
Sunny leaves from any bough.

Lilies for a bridal bed -
Roses for a matron's head -
Violets for a maiden dead - 
Pansies let my flowers be :
On the living grave I bear
Scatter them without a tear -
Let no friend, however dear, 
Waste one hope, one fear for me.

W. Hawley sets stanzas 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Remembrance" [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 Emil Gustave Ahnell (b. 1925), "Remembrance" [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Charles) Hamilton Aïdé (1826 - 1906), "A lament", published 1877 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Creighton Allen (1900 - 1969), "Remembrance", published 1954, from Shelley Songs, Cycle of Ten Songs, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Alice Borton (flourished 1890), "Remembrance", published 1881 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Henry) Elliot Button (1861 - ?), "A lament", published 1910 [ SATB chorus ], note: melody based on a German folk song [sung text not yet checked]
  • by William Hawley (b. 1950), "Remembrance", first performed 1995, stanzas 1-2 [ SSAATTBB chorus a cappella ], from Four Reveries, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Boleyne Reeves , "Swifter far than summers flight" [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Upomínka", Prague, J. Otto, first published 1901
  • HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Dezső Kosztolányi) , "Síró dalocska"


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2005-01-24
Line count: 24
Word count: 136

Upomínka
Language: Czech (Čeština)  after the English 
Ó rychlej, nežli léta běh,
ó rychlej, mlád’ než v radostech,
ó rychlej, než noc v sladkých snech
      ty přišla’s — jsi ta tam!
Jak země, svadlý list jež hostí,
jak noc, jež v bdění ve starosti,
jak srdce, které bez radosti,
      tak já jsem sám a sám.

Vlaštovka v létě, přijde již;
Noc, sova, nastoupí svou říš,
však Mládí, labuť, prchla, víš
      a s tebou, tím jsem jist!
Mé srdce denně jitra ždá si,
sen každý slzy tká v mé řasy
a darmo zima má se hlásí
      chtíc s větví slunný list.

Lilije snubní lože vem,
pro skráně matron růže sem,
fialky dívkám mrtvým všem;
      já macešky chci mít.
Na živý hrob je hleďte síti
a nemá se v nich slza skvíti,
ni přítel nemá utratiti
      tam naděj, strach neb cit.

Confirmed with SHELLEY, P. B. Výbor lyriky, translated by Jaroslav Vrchlický, Praha: J. Otto, 1901, pages 125-126.


Text Authorship:

  • by Jaroslav Vrchlický (1853 - 1912), "Upomínka", Prague, J. Otto, first published 1901 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Remembrance"
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-07-26
Line count: 24
Word count: 132

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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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