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by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894 - 1980)

O mother, the young Prince is to pass by...
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali) 
Our translations:  FRE
O mother, the young Prince is to pass by our door, --
how can I attend to my work this morning?
Show me how to braid up my hair; 
tell me what garment to put on.
Why do you look at me amazed, mother?
I know well he will not glance up once at my window; 
I know he will pass out of my sight in the twinkling of an eye; 
only the vanishing strain of the flute 
will come sobbing to me from afar.
But the young Prince will pass by our door, 
and I will put on my best for the moment.

O mother, the young Prince did pass by our door, 
and the morning sun flashed from his chariot.
I swept aside the veil from my face, 
I tore the ruby chain from my neck
and flung it in his path.
Why do you look at me amazed, mother?
I know well he did not pick up my chain; 
I know it was crushed under his wheels 
leaving a red stain upon the dust, 
and no one knows what my gift was nor to whom.
But the young Prince did pass by our door, 
and I flung the jewel from my breast before his path.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in The Gardener, no. 7, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941) [text unavailable]
    • 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):

  • by Arthur Koerner (1876 - 19??), "O mother, the young Prince is to pass by", 1917, from Spoken Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Jan Śliwiński (1884 - 1950) , appears in Rabindranath Tagore. Der Gärtner, no. 7, first published 1916 ; composed by Jan Pieter Hendrik van Gilse, Willem de Haan, Karol Maciej Szymanowski, Alexander Zemlinsky.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Franco Alfano.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894 - 1980) ; composed by Karol Maciej Szymanowski.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Spanish (Español), a translation by Zenobia Camprubí Aymar (c1887 - 1956) , appears in Obras de Rabindranath Tagore: El jardinero, first published 1917 ; composed by Juan José Castro.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Ô mère, le jeune Prince doit passer", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Rudolf Hirsch) , no title, appears in Irrgarten der Liebe


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-05
Line count: 23
Word count: 207

O, matko, królewicz młody
Language: Polish (Polski)  after the English 
O, matko, królewicz młody
u naszych wrót za chwilę przejdzie.
Ach, jakże mogę dzisiaj jąc' się pracy mojej?
O, matko, pokaż mi, jako mam włos upleśc';
powiedz, w jakie przystroic' się suknie?
Nie dziw, że widzisz mię radosną tak, matko?
Ja dobrze wiem, ac, wiem, nie spojrzy ni razu on ku oknu mojemu;
o, wiem, jak sen po chwili zniknie mi sprzed oczu;
tylko jękliwa fletni pieśn' jak echo doleci mię z oddali.
Lecz to hrólewicz młody u naszych wrót za chwilę przejdzie,
więc me najpiękniejsze suknie na chwilę wdzieję tę.

O, matko, królewicz młody
u naszych wrót przechodził przed chwilą,
i poranne słon'ce blysło na jego wozie.
Zerwałam zasłonę kryjącą mą twarz
i rubinowy naszyjnik zdarty z piersi rzucitam mu na drogę.
Nie dziw, że widzisz mię radosną tak, matko?
Ja dobrze wiem, że mój hold daremny;
i wiem, że zmiażdżył gokołami wóz
i pozostawił w piasku krwawy ślad,
i nie wie nikt, czym i dla kogo był mój dar.
Matko, królewicz młody przeszedł dziś u naszych wrót
i rzuciłam mu ten klejnot cenny z piersi mej na drogę.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   K. Szymanowski •   K. Szymanowski 

K. Szymanowski sets stanza 1 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
K. Szymanowski sets stanza 2 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894 - 1980) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in The Gardener, no. 7, first published 1913
    • Go to the text page.

Based on:

  • a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941) [text unavailable]
    • 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):

  • by Karol Maciej Szymanowski (1882 - 1937), "Młody królewicz I", op. 41 no. 2 (1918), stanza 1 [ medium voice and piano ], from Vier Gesänge (Cztery pieśni), no. 2, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Karol Maciej Szymanowski (1882 - 1937), "Młody królewicz II", op. 41 no. 3 (1918), stanza 2 [ medium voice and piano ], from Vier Gesänge (Cztery pieśni), no. 3, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-10-14
Line count: 23
Word count: 180

Gentle Reminder

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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