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by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

The night is nearly spent
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali) 
Our translations:  GER
The night is nearly spent 
waiting for him in vain. 
I fear lest in the morning 
he suddenly come to my door 
when I have fallen asleep wearied out. 
Oh friends, leave the way open to him - 
forbid him not.

If the sounds of his steps does not wake me, 
do not try to rouse me, I pray. 
I wish not to be called from my sleep 
by the clamorous choir of birds, 
by the riot of wind at the festival of morning light. 
Let me sleep undisturbed 
even if my lord comes of a sudden to my door.

Ah, my sleep, precious sleep, 
which only waits for his touch to vanish. 
Ah, my closed eyes that would open their lids only 
to the light of his smile when he stands before me 
like a dream emerging from darkness of sleep.

Let him appear before my sight 
as the first of all lights and all forms. 
The first thrill of joy to my awakened soul 
let it come from his glance. 
And let my return to myself 
be immediate return to him.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 47, 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. 47 [text unavailable]
    • 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):

  • by Jonathan Harvey (1939 - 2012), "First song", 1985 [ soprano and chamber ensemble ], from Song Offerings, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Margaret Lucy Wilkins (b. 1939), "Sleep, precious sleep", op. 35 no. 3 (1981) [ SATB quartet and SATB chorus a cappella ], from Six Song Offerings, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 25
Word count: 182

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