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I heard their young hearts crying Loveward above the glancing oar And heard the prairie grasses sighing: No more, return no more! O hearts, O sighing grasses, Vainly your loveblown bannerets mourn! No more will the wild wind that passes Return, no more return.
About the headline (FAQ)
First published in the Saturday Review, September 1913Authorship:
- by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), "Watching the needleboats at San Sabba", written 1912, appears in Pomes Penyeach, no. 2 [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 Stanley Richard Bate (1913 - 1959), "Watching the needleboats at San Saba", published 1951 [low voice and piano], from Five Songs [text not verified]
- by Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), "Watching the needleboats at San Saba", published 1933 [voice and piano], from The Joyce Book, no. 2. [text verified 1 time]
- by Brian Boydell (1917 - 2000), "Watching the needleboats at San Saba", 1936. [low voice and piano] [text not verified]
- by Robin Field (b. 1935), "I heard their young hearts crying", 1967 [tenor, oboe, and string quartet], from The sly reeds whisper [text not verified]
- by John Gruen (b. 1927), "Watching the needleboats at San Saba" [voice and piano] [text not verified]
- by Geert van Keulen (b. 1943), "Watching the needleboats at San Saba", 1943, published 1984, rev. 1984 [soprano, flute (alto flute and piccolo), clarinet (bass clarinet), violin, contrabass, harp, vibraphone (tam-tam), mandolin, and guitar], from Trieste, or Three Poems by James Joyce, no. 2, Amsterdam, Donemus [text not verified]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , title 1: "En regardant les yoles à San Sabba", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , title 1: "Betrachtung der Ruderer vor San Sabba", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 44
J'entendis leurs jeunes cœurs crier Vers l'amour au-dessus de la rame étincelante Et j'entendis les herbes de la prairie soupirer : Ne reviens, ne reviens plus jamais ! Ô cœurs, Ô herbes qui soupirent, Vainement vos bannerets à l'amour au vent se lamentent ! Plus jamais le vent sauvage qui passe Ne revient, ne revient plus jamais.
Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2009 by Guy Laffaille, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in English by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), "Watching the needleboats at San Sabba", written 1912, appears in Pomes Penyeach, no. 2
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-07
Line count: 8
Word count: 57