by James Joyce (1882 - 1941)
Thou leanest to the shell of night
Language: English
Our translations: FRE
Thou leanest to the shell of night,
Dear lady, a divining ear.
In that soft choiring of delight
What sound hath made thy heart to fear?
Seemed it of rivers rushing forth
From the grey deserts of the north?
That mood of thine, O timorous
Is his, if thou but scan it well,
Who a mad tale bequeaths to us
At ghosting hour conjurable --
And all for some strange name he read
In Purchas or in Holinshed.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), no title, appears in Chamber Music, no. 26, first published 1907 [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 Ross Lee Finney (1906 - 1997), "Thou leanest to the shell of night ", 1952, published 1985, first performed 1975 [ voice and piano ], from Chamber Music, no. 26, Henmar Press [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-02
Line count: 12
Word count: 77