by
James Joyce (1882 - 1941)
Frail the white rose and frail are
Language: English
Our translations: FRE GER
Frail the white rose and frail are
Her hands that gave
Whose soul is sere and paler
Than time's wan wave.
Rosefrail and fair-- yet frailest
A wonder wild
In gentle eyes thou veilest,
My blueveined child.
About the headline (FAQ)
First published in
Poetry, May 1917
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 Lorne M. Betts (b. 1918), "Frail the white rose and frail are", 1952 [ voice and piano ], from Five Songs (1952) [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Del Tredici (1937 - 2023), "A flower given to my daughter", 1958-60, published 1974 [ voice and piano ], from Four Songs on Texts of James Joyce, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Leo Diamond (1915 - 2005), "A flower given to my daughter", published 1942 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936), "Frail the white rose", 1930 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974), "A Flower Given to my Child", 1930 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest John Moeran (1894 - 1950), "Rosefrail", R. 52 (1929), published 1931 [ medium voice and piano ], Augener [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Albert Roussel (1869 - 1937), "A flower given to my daughter", 1931, published 1933, first performed 1932 [ high voice and piano ], from The Joyce Book, no. 3, note: sometimes published with the same opus number as "Deux idylles", op. 44 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ronald Stevenson (b. 1928), "A flower given to my daughter", 1971 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Strickland (b. 1914), "A flower given to my daughter", published 1961 [ medium-high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Italian (Italiano), adapted by Eugenio Montale (1896 - 1981) , copyright © ; composed by Luigi Dallapiccola.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Une fleur offerte à ma fille", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Eine Blume, meiner Tochter überreicht", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 37
Une fleur offerte à ma fille
Language: French (Français) after the English
Frêle la rose blanche et frêles sont
Ses mains qui l'offrirent
Dont l'âme est fanée et plus pâle
Que la vague blême du temps.
Rose frêle et belle -- encore plus frêle
Une merveille sauvage
Dans tes doux yeux que tu voiles,
Mon enfant aux veines bleues.
Text 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), "A flower given to my daughter", written 1913, appears in Pomes Penyeach, no. 3
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-09
Line count: 8
Word count: 46