I'll sail upon the Dog Star,
And then pursue the morning,
I'll chase the moon 'till it be noon,
But I'll make her leave her horning.
I'll climb the frosty mountain,
And there I'll coin the weather;
I'll tear the rainbow from the sky,
And tie both ends together.
The stars pluck from their orbs, too,
And crowd them in my budget!
And whether I'm a roaring boy,
Let all the nations judge it.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in English by John Fletcher (1579 - 1625), no title, from Noble Gentlemen [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "I'll sail upon the dog-star", 1947 [ voice and piano ], a realization of the Purcell song. Confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Nicholas Maw (1935 - 2009), "I'll sail upon the Dog‑star", published 1978 [ voice (or unison voices) and piano ], from Caroline Pink (and other Nonsense Rhymes), no. 6, London ; New York : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695), "I'll sail upon the Dog-star", Z. 571 no. 6 (1688), from the incidental music to A Fool's Preferment -or- The Three Dukes of Dunstable, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Navegaré damunt l’estel de Sírius", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , "我在天狼星航行", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Virginia Knight
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 74
我在天狼星航行，
然后将要追寻早晨，
追逐月亮直到中午
让她的喇叭没声音。
我将要攀登冰山，
会在那里创造天气；
要把彩虹撕扯下来
并将两端绑在一起。
将星从轨道摘下，
将它们纳入预算！
且我是否是一个恶人，
让世界万国评判。