I know that the day will come (Tagore, set by Josef Alexander) (The LiederNet Archive: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Translation by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

I know that the day will come

Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)

Available translation(s): GER

I know that the day will come 
when my sight of this earth shall be lost, 
and life will take its leave in silence, 
drawing the last curtain over my eyes. 

Yet stars will watch at night, 
and morning rise as before, 
and hours heave like sea waves 
casting up pleasures and pains.

When I think of this end of my moments,
the barrier of the moments breaks
and I see by the light of death
thy world with its careless treasures.
Rare is its lowliest seat,
rare is its meanest of lives.

Things that I longed for in vain
and things that I got -- let them pass.
Let me but truly possess the things 
that I ever spurned and overlooked.

Authorship

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in Gitanjali, no. 92, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on

a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 92 [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 Josef Alexander (1907 - 1992), "I know that the day will come", 1973 [soprano, harpsichord, and percussion], from Gitanjali, no. 8 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Marie Luise Gothein (1863 - 1931) , first published 1914 ENG ; composed by Stefan Wolpe.
Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Andrea Butenschön (1866 - 1948) , first published 1915 ENG GER GER ; composed by Edvin Kallstenius.

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

SWE Swedish (Svenska) (Andrea Butenschön) , first published 1915

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Text added to the website: 2009-11-13 00:00:00
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:02:42
Line count: 18
Word count: 121