by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)
My soul is dark ‑ Oh! quickly string
Language: English
My soul is dark - Oh! quickly string The harp I yet can brook to hear; And let thy gentle fingers fling Its melting murmurs o'er mine ear. -- If in this heart a hope be dear, That sound shall charm it forth again -- If in these eyes there lurk a tear, 'Twill flow -- and cease to burn my brain -- But bid the strain be wild and deep, Nor let thy notes of joy be first: I tell thee -- Minstrel! I must weep, Or else this heavy heart will burst -- For it hath been by sorrow nurst, And ached in sleepless silence [long]1 -- And now 'tis doom'd to know the worst, And break at once -- or yield to song.
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Text Authorship:
- by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "My soul is dark", appears in Hebrew Melodies, no. 9, adaptation of I Samuel 16:14-23, first published 1815 [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 Alfred Alexander (1844 - ?), "My soul is dark", published 1871 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jan van Amerongen (b. 1938), "My soul is dark", from Thompson-liederen, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by L. G. Barbour , "My soul is dark", published 1864 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Auguste de Beriot (1802 - 1870), "My soul is dark", <<1970 [ voice and piano ], Gooch and Thatcher catalog indicates this as unverified [sung text not yet checked]
- by Samuel Bugatch , "My soul is dark", published 1943 [ baritone and orchestra ], from Judea, with Yiddish version by M. Frelicoff [sung text not yet checked]
- by Noble Cain (1896 - 1977), "The harp", published 1951 [ SSAATTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Case , "My soul is dark", published 1918 [ high voice and piano ], from Twelve songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by T. Davenport Chatterton , "My soul is dark", published 1869 [ voice and piano or harp ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Childs , "My soul is dark", published 1860 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by H. J. Coldwell (flourished 1875), "My soul is dark", published 1875 [ alto and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Leo Diamond (1915 - 2005), "My soul is dark", published 1969 [ voice and piano ], from Hebrew melodies, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Lodge Ellerton (1801 - 1873), "My soul is dark - Oh! quickly string", 1823 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Wallace Gilchrist (1846 - 1916), "My soul is dark", published 1891 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur H. Gutman , "My soul is dark", published 1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by J. Valentine Hall , "My soul is dark", published 1897 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leonard J[ordan] Lehrman (b. 1949), "My soul is dark", op. 36 no. 1 (1973) [ female voice with piano or vibraphone or winds ], from Two songs of a madman, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by James Nary , "My soul is dark", published 1876 [ voice and piano ], from Lord Byron's Hebrew Melodies [sung text not yet checked]
- by Isaac Nathan (1790 - 1864), "My soul is dark", published 1815 [ voice and piano ], from A Selection of Hebrew Melodies No. I, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Samuel Harold Oakley , "My soul is dark", published 1902 [ tenor or soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by C. E. Phillips , "My soul is dark", published 1828 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by G. Pigott , "Canzonet III", published 1827 [ high voice and piano ], from Three Canzonets, the words from Byron's Hebrew Melodies [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bryceson Treharne (1879 - 1948), "My soul is dark", published 1921 [ voice and piano ], from Ten Dramatic and Descriptive Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Van Dyke Wiesenthal (1790 - 1833), "My soul is dark", published 1824, copyright © 1824 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Danish (Dansk), a translation by Caspara Preezmann (1792 - 1876) , "Min Sjæl er mørk", appears in Hundrede Digte ved Caralis, first published 1867 ; composed by Jacob Deichmann Dahl, Carl Nielsen.
- Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Nicolaas Beets (1814 - 1903) , "'t Wordt nacht in mij" ; composed by Lodewijk Mortelmans.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Léon de Béthune ; composed by Eugène Des Aubiez.
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- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by (Karl) Wilhelm Osterwald (1820 - 1887) ; composed by Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Franz Theremin (1780 - 1846) , "Mein Geist ist trüb'", appears in Hebräische Gesänge, first published 1820 ; composed by Hugo Brückler, Joseph Gall, M. Henle, Carl Loewe.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Julius Körner (1793 - 1873) , "Die Laute", appears in Israelitische Gesänge, no. 9, first published 1821 ; composed by Robert Schumann.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "Ein grauses Dunkel herrscht in meiner Seele", from Lord Byron's Sämmtliche werke: Nach den anforderungen unserer zeit, Volume 1, many translators, first published 1839 ; composed by Georg Schumann.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Adolf Böttger (1815 - 1870) , "Mein Geist ist trüb' -- o nimm geschwind", appears in Hebräische Melodien, no. 9, first published 1841 ; composed by Carl Georg Peter Grädener, Oskar Viktor Zack.
- Also set in Norwegian (Nynorsk), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Susanna Heiberg.
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- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Mikhail Yur'yevich Lermontov (1814 - 1841) , no title ; composed by Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev, Nikolay Dmitrevich Dmitriev, Samuil Yevgenyevich Feinberg, Konstantin Petrovich Galler, Iosif Yefimovich Gottbeyter, Aleksandr Mikhailovich Gurevich, Vladimir Mitrofanovich Ivanov-Korsunsky, Nikolay Ivanovich Kazanli, Ferdinand Fyodorovich Langer, Gavriil Yakimovich Lomakin, Aleksandr Ippolitovich Mann, Dmitry Mikheyevich Melkikh, Mikhail Nikolayevich Ofrosimov, Samuil Vladimirovich Polonsky, Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein, Dmitry Fyodorovich Tarkhov, Dmitry Alekseyevich Tolstoy, F. A. Zaikin, Yakov Zeltser, Aleksandr Timofeyevich Zubanov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Alexis Paulin Pâris) , "Mon ame est sombre", appears in Mélodies hébraïques, no. 9
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 117