by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)
Translation by Alfred Kerr (1867 - 1948)
When I am dead, my dearest
Language: English
When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me; Plant thou no roses at my head, Nor shady cypress tree: Be the green grass above me With showers and dewdrops wet; And if thou wilt, remember, And if thou wilt, forget. I shall not see the shadows, I shall not feel the rain; I shall not hear the nightingale Sing on, as if in pain: And dreaming through the twilight That doth not rise nor set, Haply I may remember, And haply may forget.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• D. Arditti • R. Ascham • E. Coates • J. Hall • R. Hugill • J. Ireland • L. Laitman • L. Lehmann • L. Lehrman • S. Sargon • R. Still • J. Weiss • D. Zannoni • D. Zannoni • D. ZannoniAbout the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), "Song", appears in Goblin Market and other Poems, first published 1862 [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 Gilbert A. Alcock , "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1911 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Arditti (b. 1964), "When I am dead, my dearest", op. 10 no. 3, from Three Songs of Christina Rossetti, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Roger Ascham (1864 - 1934), "When I am dead, my dearest", op. 22 (Twelve Songs with Pianoforte Accompaniment) no. 3 (1882-1899), published c1910 [ voice and piano ], London, Charles Vincent [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frederic Austin (1872 - 1952), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1911 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederick Barry (1876 - 1943), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1898 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edgar Beck-Slinn , "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1904 [ alto or baritone and piano ], from Songs of the Heart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Felix Borowski (1872 - 1956), "When I am dead, my dearest", <<1956 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Walter Branson , "Song", published 1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Robert) Houston Bright (1916 - 1970), "Refection", published 1961 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alan Bullard (b. 1947), "When I am dead" [sung text not yet checked]
- by James Henry Baseden Butt (b. 1929), "When I am dead", published 1974 [ soprano and piano ], from Women Speaking [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Sing no sad songs for me", published 1952 [ SSA chorus and piano ], from Four Christina Rossetti Settings [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Whitefield Chadwick (1854 - 1931), "When I am dead", 1910 [sung text not yet checked]
- by H. J. Cheney , "When I am dead, my dearest ", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederick Cliffe (1857 - 1931), "When I am dead, my dearest ", published 1902 [ voice and piano ], from Two Merry Songs and Two Sad Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eric Coates (1886 - 1957), "When I am dead" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 - 1912), "When I am dead, my dearest", op. 57 no. 2 (1904), published 1904 [ alto and piano ], from Six Sorrow Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alfred Redgrave Cripps (1882 - 1950), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1909 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Brian Blyth Daubney (b. 1929), "When I am dead, my dearest", 1948 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by George A. Davies (b. 1920), "When I am dead, my dearest" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Norman Dello Joio (1913 - 2008), "Madrigal", published 1947 [ satb chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Oliver Henry Edwards (b. 1902), "When I am dead", published <<1972 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ], also set in Welsh (Cymraeg) [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Selwyn English (b. 1912), "The cypress tree", published 1961 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by T. Walton Gillibrand , "When I am dead", published 1871? [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Blanche Goode , "When I am dead, my dearest", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Greaves (1889 - 1966), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1946 [ alto or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Hageman (1881 - 1966), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1941 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "When I am dead, my dearest" [ soprano and piano ], from Christina's World -- 5 Songs for Soprano and Piano on Poems by Christina Rossetti, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Edward C. Harris (1899 - ?), "When I am dead, my dearest", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francis Hueffer (see Franz Hüffer (1843 - 1889)), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1973 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Elaine Hugh-Jones (b. 1927), "Song" [ voice and piano ], from The Silent Land: Two Poems by Christina Rossetti, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Hugill , "Song" [ mezzo-soprano, viola, piano ], from Quickening, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Beroald Innes , "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1895 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "When I am dead, my dearest", 1924, published 1928 [ voice and piano or string quartet ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1861 - 1946), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1902 [ voice and piano ], from Twelve Songs, no. 7, London : Frederick Harris [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "Sing no sad songs for me" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jón Þórarinsson (b. 1917), "When I am dead", published 1966 [ baritone and orchestra ], from Of Love and Death [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gerald Kechley (b. 1919), "Sing no sad songs", published 1969 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gerald Kechley (b. 1919), "When I am dead", 1972 [ soprano and 2 flutes ], from Three Rossetti Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gustav Klemm (1897 - 1947), "My dearest" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lori Laitman (b. 1955), "Song", first performed 1995 [ soprano and piano ], from Days and Nights, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Malcolm Leonard Lawson (b. 1849), "Hereafter", published 1893 [ voice and piano ], in the collection First Album of People's Songs and others [sung text not yet checked]
- by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "When I am dead, my dearest", c1918 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Leonard J[ordan] Lehrman (b. 1949), "When I am dead, my dearest", op. 6 no. 2, copyright © 1964, first performed 1964 [ soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Song Cyclette of Three Girls' Love Songs, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Rex Le Lacheur , "Sing no sad songs", published 1970 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alexander Campbell MacKenzie, Sir (1847 - 1935), "When I am dead", published 1878 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "Requiem", op. 181 no. 1 (2010), published 2013 [ voice and piano ], from Zwei Lieder nach Christina Rossetti, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raymond Earle Mitchell (1895 - 1967), "Sing no sad songs for me", published 1928 [ voice and piano or orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Finley Nevin (1871 - 1943), "If thou wilt", published <<1929 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Tertius Noble (1867 - 1953), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1922 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by O. Norman , "Sing no sad songs for me", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Juan Antonio Orrego Salas (1919 - 2019), "Song", 1945, first performed 1948 [ alto and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Winthrop Parkhurst , "Epitaph", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Helen Lucas Pyke (d. 1954), "When I am dead, my dearest", published c1949 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "A song at parting", published 1952 [ voice and piano ], Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
- by Oscar Rasbach (1888 - 1975), "When I am dead, my dearest", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "When I Am Dead, My Dearest", op. 436 (1955) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "Remembrance", published 1928 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Martin Roeder (1851 - 1895), "Entreaty", <<1895, published <<1929 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Simon Sargon (b. 1938), "Song", 1982 [ low voice and piano ], from Bitter for Sweet, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Francis George Scott (1880 - 1958), "When I am dead, my dearest", 1922 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sibyl , "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1870 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alice Mary Smith (1839 - 1884), "Song", published <<1893 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "When I am dead", published 1888 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by T. Wallace Southam , "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1966 [ voice and piano ], from Poetry Set in Jazz [sung text not yet checked]
- by Evelyn Hope Squire (1878 - 1935), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1938 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Halsey Stevens (1908 - 1989), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1942 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Still (1910 - 1971), "Song (When I am dead, my dearest)" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "When I am dead, my dearest", c1903, published 1903, first performed 1905 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jack Villaume (b. 1907), "Nature's Requiem", published 1957 [ voice and piano ], from By the Moongate [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vally Weigl, née Pick (c1894 - 1982), "When I am dead, my dearest", c1969-70 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joel Weiss , "When I am dead my dearest" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Arthur Battelle Whiting (1861 - 1936), "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1904 [ soprano and piano ], from Three Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson (1931 - 2003), "When I am dead", published 1967 [ voice and piano or string orchestra ], from Six English Lyrics [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jesse M. Winne , "When I am dead, my dearest", published 1936 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raymond Huntington Woodman (1861 - 1943), "If you dare forget", published <<1929 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Davide Zannoni , "Aldina", 1999, first performed 2000 [ soprano and vibraphone ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Davide Zannoni , "Citadel of softness", 2007 [ SATB chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Davide Zannoni , "Song", 2006, first performed 2006 [ soprano or tenor and vibraphone ], from Three Rossetti Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alfred Kerr (1867 - 1948) , no title ; composed by Paul Dessau, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Richard Maux.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Helen Dellenbauch Tretbar (1835 - 1902) ; composed by Frank Valentin Van der Stucken.
- Also set in Welsh (Cymraeg), a translation by Cynan ; composed by Oliver Henry Edwards.
- 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.]
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Nach meinem Tode, Liebster", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Canzone", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 87
Laß Liebster, wenn ich tot bin
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Our translations: FRE
[Laß Liebster, wenn ich tot bin]1, laß du von Klagen ab. Statt Rosen und Cypressen wächst Gras auf meinem Grab. Ich schlafe still im Zwielichtschein in schwerer Dämmernis - Und wenn du willst, gedenke mein und wenn du willst, vergiß. Ich fühle nicht den Regen, ich seh' nicht, ob es tagt, ich höre nicht die Nachtigall, die in den Büschen klagt. Vom [Schlaf]2 erweckt mich keiner, die Erdenwelt verblich. Vielleicht gedenk ich deiner, vielleicht vergaß ich dich.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Maux: "Laß, wenn ich tot bin, Liebster"
2 Maux: "Traum"
Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Kerr (1867 - 1948), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), "Song", appears in Goblin Market and other Poems, first published 1862
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Paul Dessau (1894 - 1979), "Sterbelied", 1927 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897 - 1957), "Sterbelied", op. 14 no. 1 (1918), from Lieder des Abschieds, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Maux (1893 - 1971), "Sterbelied", op. 107 (1919) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant du mourant", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 76