La complainte de Ian le fier | Quel est ce cri que j'entends dans le vent ?

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by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), as Fiona Macleod

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

The Lament of Ian the Proud

Language: English

Our translations: FRE

What is this crying that I hear in the wind?
Is it the old sorrow and the old grief? 
Or is it a new thing coming, a whirling leaf
About the gray hair of me who am weary and blind?
I know not what it is, but on the moor above the shore
There is a stone which the purple nets of heather bind,
And thereon is writ: She will return no more.
O blown, whirling leaf, and the old grief,
And wind crying to me who am old and blind!

Text Authorship:

by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), as Fiona Macleod, "The Lament of Ian the Proud", appears in From the Hills of Dream, first published 1901 [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 Henry Eichheim (1870 - 1942), "The Lament of Ian the Proud", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
by Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884 - 1920), "The Lament of Ian the Proud", op. 11 no. 1, A. 57 (1918), published 1918 [ high voice and piano ], from Three Poems of Fiona Macleod, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La complainte de Ian le fier", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 91

La complainte de Ian le fier

Language: French (Français) after the English

Quel est ce cri que j'entends dans le vent ?
Est-ce l'ancien chagrin et l'ancienne peine ?
Ou est-ce une nouvelle chose qui arrive, une feuille tourbillonnant
Autour des cheveux gris de moi qui suis las et aveugle ?
Je ne sais pas ce que c'est, mais sur la lande au-dessus du rivage
Il y a une pierre que les filets pourpre de la bruyère entourent,
Et dessus il est écrit : Elle ne reviendra plus.
Ô feuille soufflée, tourbillonnante, et l'ancienne peine,
Et le vent qui crie pour m'appeler  moi qui suis vieux et aveugle !

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2010 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 William Sharp (1855 - 1905), as Fiona Macleod, "The Lament of Ian the Proud", appears in From the Hills of Dream, first published 1901
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2010-04-02
Line count: 9
Word count: 92