When thou commandest me to sing | When thou commandest me to sing

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Translation by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

When thou commandest me to sing

Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)

Our translations: FRE GER

When thou commandest me to sing 
it seems that my heart would break with pride; 
and I look to thy face, and tears come to my eyes.

All that is harsh and dissonant in my life 
melts into one sweet harmony - 
and my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird 
on its flight across the sea.

I know thou takest pleasure in my singing. 
I know that only as a singer 
I come before thy presence.

I touch by the edge of the far-spreading wing 
of my song thy feet 
which I could never aspire to reach.

Drunk with the joy of singing I forget myself 
and call thee friend who art my lord.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 2, 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. 2 [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 Philip Frederick Wright James (1890 - 1975), "When thou commandest me to sing", 1921?, from Four Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Peter Pieters (b. 1957), "When thou commandest me to sing", 200?, from Gitanjali, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Raymond Murray Schafer (b. 1933), "Gitanjali no. 2", 1962 [ soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, and women's chorus ], from Four Songs on Texts by Tagore, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Raymond Murray Schafer (b. 1933), "When thou commandest me to sing", 1991 [ soprano and orchestra ], from Gitanjali, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Naresh Sohal (b. 1939), "When thou commandest me to sing", 1985 [ baritone and orchestra ], from From Gitanjali, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Rick Sowash (b. 1950), "When thou commandest me to sing", 1976 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Frederik van Eeden (1860 - 1932) , no title ; composed by Aleidus Coenen, Albert De Klerk.
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Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Jan Pouwels.
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Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Domingo Santa Cruz Wilson.
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Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Dino Menichetti.
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Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Sergey Nikiforovich Vasilenko.
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Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Andrea Butenschön (1866 - 1948) , first published 1915 ; composed by Edvin Kallstenius.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist)

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 114