by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation by Andrea Butenschön (1866 - 1948)
If thou speakest not
Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)
Our translations: GER
Chosen for Diff
If thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it. I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil and its head bent low with patience. The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish, and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky. Then thy words will take wing in songs from every one of my birds' nests, and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 19, 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), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 19 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Margaret Carter Metcalf (d. 1957), "If thou speakest not", 1921 [ high voice and piano ], from Four Poems, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael John Trotta (b. 1978), "I will keep still", published 2012 [ satb chorus a cappella ], Carl Fischer [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947), "Beloved - If you speakest not", 1999 [ SATB chorus and string quartet ], from The Golden Harp, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by André Gide (1869 - 1951) , no title, appears in Gitanjali (L'Offrande lyrique), no. 19, first published 1914 ; composed by Jean-Émile-Paul Cras.
- Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Franco Alfano.
- Also set in Spanish (Español), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Washington Castro.
- 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.]
- Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Andrea Butenschön (1866 - 1948) , first published 1915 ; composed by Edvin Kallstenius.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SWE Swedish (Svenska) (Andrea Butenschön) , first published 1915
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-17
Line count: 19
Word count: 83
Då icke du talar
Language: Swedish (Svenska) after the English
Chosen for Diff
Då icke du talar, vill jag fylla mitt hjärta med tystnad och härda ut. Jag vill hålla mig stilla och likt natten vänta med stjärnevaka och huvudet böjt djupt i tålamod. Morgonen skall säkert komma, mörkret skall avtaga, din röst skall strömma ned [... ...] och taga vingar i sången från vart och ett av mina fågelbon och dina melodier slå ut i blom från alla mina skogsdungar.
E. Kallstenius sets lines 1-10, 13-19
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Andrea Butenschön (1866 - 1948), first published 1915 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 19, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 19 [text unavailable]
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 ]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Edvin Kallstenius (1881 - 1967), no title, op. 32 no. 3 (1944) [ baritone and orchestra ], from cantata Sångoffer, no. 3
Score: IMSLP [external link]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English [singable] (Edvin Kallstenius)
- GER German (Deutsch) (Edvin Kallstenius)
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Daphnis [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-07-28
Line count: 19
Word count: 66