I am here to sing thee songs | I am here to sing thee songs

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Translation by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

I am here to sing thee songs

Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)

Our translations: FRE

I am here to sing thee songs.
In this hall of thine I have a corner seat.

In thy world I have no work to do;
My useless life can only break out 
in tunes without a purpose.

When the hour strikes for thy silent worship
at the dark temple of midnight,
command me, my master, 
to stand before thee to sing.

When in the morning air,
the golden harp is tuned,
honour me, commanding my presence.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 15, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 15 [text unavailable]
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Ralph D'Mello (b. 195?), "Gitanjali", 1999 [ tenor or baritone and clarinet ], from Tagore Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Gert Oost (b. 1943), "I am here to sing", 1993 [ soprano, flute, and piano ], from Drie Liederen uit de Wijzangen, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Raymond Murray Schafer (b. 1933), "I am here to sing thee songs", 1991 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Gitanjali, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Naresh Sohal (b. 1939), no title, 1999-2002 [ soprano and piano ], from Songs of Desire, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947), "Invocation - I am here to sing thee songs", 1999 [ SATB chorus and string quartet ], from The Golden Harp, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by André Gide (1869 - 1951) , no title, appears in Gitanjali (L'Offrande lyrique), no. 15, Paris, Gallimard, first published 1914 ; composed by Elsa Barraine.
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Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Bertram Kottmann , "Hier bin ich, Lieder dir zu singen", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ; composed by Gary Bachlund.
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Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Andrea Butenschön (1866 - 1948) ; composed by Miklós Maros.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-24
Line count: 12
Word count: 77