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Early in the day it was whispered that we should sail in a boat, only thou and I, and never a soul in the world would know of this our pilgrimage to no country and to no end. In that shoreless ocean, at thy silently listening smile my songs would swell in melodies, free as waves, free from all bondage of words. Is the time not come yet? Are there works still to do? Lo, the evening has come down upon the shore and in the fading light the seabirds come flying to their nests. Who knows when the chains will be off, and the boat, like the last glimmer of sunset, vanish into the night?
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 42, 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. 42 [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 Walter Arlen (1920 - 2023), "Early in the day" [ soprano and piano ], from Tellings of Beads: Five Last Songs, no. 2, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Comolata Banerji (189? - 19??), "Early in the day", 1926 [ voice and piano ], from Song Offerings, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Iain Bell (b. 1980), "Sail Away", first performed 2017 [ soprano and piano ], from Away, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by David Leisner (b. 1958), "The Boat", 1991 [ soprano and guitar ], from Heaven's River, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Landon Ronald, Sir (1873 - 1938), "Early in the day it was whispered", 1920 [ high voice and piano ], from Four Song Offerings - 2nd series, no. 1 [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. 42, first published 1914 ; composed by Louis Durey.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2016, (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: 17
Word count: 116
Chuala go luath sa lá faoi rún Go mbeimisne beirt i mbád, ár ndís amháin, Is gan fhios ag éinne ar domhan Go rabhamar ar oilithreacht Gan tír ar bith againn mar chríoch Ar aigéan sin gan bhruach Tú ag éisteacht led’ mheangadh ciúin D’imeodh mo chuid laoithe ina srúill Saor mar thonn, gan briathra á gcur in iúl Nár tháinig fós an t-am? Bhfuil dán nó dhó le scríobh? Féach, an iarnóin tagtha síos go dtí an trá, An solas lag ag éag Éin ag filleadh abhaile ar a nead Cathain a bheidh na slabhraí di Is an bád ar nós lasairín na gréine Slogtha ag an oích’?
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Singable translation from English to Irish (Gaelic) copyright © 2016 by Gabriel Rosenstock.
This author's work falls under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons license.
Gabriel Rosenstock. Contact: grosenstock04 (AT) gmail (DOT) com
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 42, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 42 [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2016-01-16
Line count: 17
Word count: 109