by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849)
Translation by Georgi Mihaylov (1893 - 1950)
Helen, thy beauty is to me
Language: English
Helen, thy beauty is to me Like those Nicéan barks of yore, That gently, o'er a perfumed sea, The weary, way-worn wanderer bore To his own native shore. On desperate seas long wont to roam, Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face, Thy Naiad airs have brought me home To the glory that was Greece, And the grandeur that was Rome. Lo! In yon brilliant window-niche How statue-like I see thee stand, The agate lamp within thy hand! Ah, Psyche, from the regions which Are Holy-Land!
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Text Authorship:
- by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849), "To Helen", written 1831 [author's text not yet checked 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 Herman Behr , "Helen", published 1933 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Benjamin C. S. Boyle , "To Helen", op. 4 no. 9, published 2002, first performed 2003 [ baritone and piano ], from Lenoriana, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by James Philip Dunn (1884 - 1936), "To Helen", published 1916 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Edmunds (1913 - 1986), "Helen" [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Forsyth (1870 - 1941), "To Helen", published 1927 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ], partsong [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Herbert Foulds (1880 - 1939), "Helen", op. 11 no. 2, first performed 1931 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Three Songs of Beauty, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Elliott Griffis (1893 - 1967), "To Helen", published 1946 [ medium voice and piano ], from Songs from Poe [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Habash , "To Helen", published 1964 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Kaufer (1909 - 1990), "To Helen", published 1951 [ voice and piano ], from Dover Beach and Other Songs, no. 9, Waukegan, Illinois: Lyric-Art [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Reginald Little , "Helen" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Martin Tornov Loeffler (1861 - 1935), "To Helen", op. 15 (Four Poems) no. 3 (1905), published 1906 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Walter Byron Mourant (1910 - 1995), "To Helen" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Harry Edward Piggott , "To Helen", published 1953 [ 2-part chorus with piano ], partsong [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bertram Shapleigh (1871 - 1940), "Helen, thy beauty is to me", op. 41 (Fünf Lieder) no. 1, published 1901 [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leo Smith (1881 - 1952), "To Helen", published 1914 [ voice and piano ], from Four songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Oscar George Theodore Sonneck (1873 - 1928), "To Helen", op. 16 (Four Poems by Edgar Allan Poe) no. 1, published 1917 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Warren Storey-Smith (1855 - 1971), "To Helen", published 1917 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cyril V. Taylor (b. 1907), "To Helen", published 1930 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Myra Kinney Van Höveln-Carpé , "Thy naiad airs", op. 54b, published 1922 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), adapted by Franz Hermann Schneider (1860 - 1930) ; composed by Bertram Shapleigh.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- 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) (Stéphane Mallarmé) , "Stances à Hélène"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2005-10-12
Line count: 15
Word count: 85
Елена
Language: Bulgarian (Български) after the English
Твойта прелест, която печали не знай,
Като лека трирема от старите дни,
Приютила изгнаника в чужди страни,
Все по-нежно ме носеше в родния край
Над моря — благовонни вълни.
На изгнаника морен — във знак на пощада —
От съдбата изпратена, в бури и дим —
С хиацинтови къдри и мраморен лик на Найада —
Ти разкри ми античния чар на Елада,
И старинния блясък на Рим!
Аз те помня и виждам все тъй и сега,
Като статуя мраморна в нощната тма,
Със ахатов светилник, издигнат в ръка…
О, Психея от друга земя без тъга,
Наречена Свята Земя!
Text Authorship:
- by Georgi Mihaylov (1893 - 1950), "Елена", first published 1920 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849), "To Helen", written 1831
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-30
Line count: 15
Word count: 98