by
John Keats (1795 - 1821)
To one who has been long in city pent
Language: English
To one who has been long in city pent,
'Tis very sweet to look into the fair
And open face of heaven, -- to breathe a prayer
Full in the smile of the blue firmament.
Who is more happy, when, with hearts content,
Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair
Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair
And gentle tale of love and languishment?
Returning home at evening, with an ear
Catching the notes of Philomel, -- an eye
Watching the sailing cloudlet's bright career,
He mourns that day so soon has glided by:
E'en like the passage of an angel's tear
That falls through the clear ether silently.
About the headline (FAQ)
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 Ronald A. Beckett , "To one who has been long in city pent", 2015, from To One who has been Long in City Pent. Four Poems by John Keats, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Fairfax Birch (b. 1917), "In the fields", published 1953 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "To one who has been long in city pent", published 1955 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vivian Fine (1913 - 2000), "To one who has been long in city pent", 1976, first performed 1976 [ baritone and orchestra ], from Sonnets for Baritone and Orchestra, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Pearson (flourished 1954), "Angel thoughts", published 1954 [ SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Solomon Pimsleur (1900 - 1962), "Communion with Nature", 1927-8 [ alto, bass, and string quartet or strings ], from Sonnet-Tableau [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alan Richardson , "Sonnet: To one who has been long in city pent", published 1939 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Per chi molto tempo restò nelle città rinchiuso", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 107
Per chi molto tempo restò nelle città rinchiuso
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the English
Per chi molto tempo restò nelle città rinchiuso
è tanto dolce cosa lo sguardo sollevare
verso il volto aperto e leggiadro del cielo -- e respirare,
pregando, immerso nel sorriso del firmamento azzurro.
Chi mai più felice sarà di colui che, con la pace in cuore,
stanco si immerge in un angolo ameno
d'erba ondulata, a leggere un delicato
e gentile racconto d'amore e di languore?
A sera, ritornando a casa, l'orecchio
tendendo al canto di Filomela, con l'occhio
rimirando la luminosa corsa di veleggianti nubi,
egli rimpiange il giorno che rapido è trascorso:
simile al passaggio di una lacrima d'angelo
che silenziosa nell'aria chiara cade.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2009 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by John Keats (1795 - 1821), no title, appears in Poems, first published 1817
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 105
