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possibly by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE)
Translation by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)

Ode I
Language: English  after the Greek (Ελληνικά) 
I often wish this languid lyre,
This warbler of my soul's desire,
Could raise the breath of song sublime,
To men of fame, in former time.
But when the soaring theme I try,
Along the chords my numbers die,
And whisper, with dissolving tone,
"Our sighs are given to love alone!"
Indignant at the feeble lay,
I tore the panting chords away,
Attuned them to a nobler swell,
And struck again the breathing shell;
In all the glow of epic fire,
To Hercules I wake the lyre,
But still its fainting sighs repeat,
"The tale of love alone is sweet!"
Then fare thee well, seductive dream,
That madest me follow Glory's theme;
For thou my lyre, and thou my heart,
Shall never more in spirit part;
And all that one has felt so well
The other shall as sweetly tell!

Text Authorship:

  • by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "Ode I", appears in Odes of Anacreon, no. 1, first published 1800 [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) possibly by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE)
    • Go to the text page.

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 ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Carel Vosmaer (1826 - 1888) , "Op mijne lier" ; composed by Lodewijk Mortelmans.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in English, a translation by John Berkenhead, Sir (c1617 - 1679) ; composed by Henry Lawes.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Auguste Lacaussade (1815 - 1897) , "Sur sa lyre", appears in Poésies, Les épaves ; composed by Angèle Blot.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Franz Seraph Ritter von Bruchmann (1798 - 1867) [an adaptation] ; composed by Paul Mirsch, Franz Peter Schubert.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Johann Heinrich Friedrich Meinecke (1745 - 1825) , "Die Leyer" ; composed by Carl Loewe.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875) , "Verschiedener Krieg", appears in Anakreontische Lieder, no. 2 [an adaptation] ; composed by Fritz Franz Schieri.
    • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-04-19
Line count: 22
Word count: 140

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