I see thine image through my tears...

I see thine image through my tears to-night,
And yet to-day I saw thee smiling. How
Refer the cause?--Beloved, is it thou
Or I, who makes me sad? The acolyte
Amid the chanted joy and thankful rite
May so fall flat, with pale insensate brow,
On the altar-stair. I hear thy voice and vow,
Perplexed, uncertain, since thou art out of sight,
As he, in his swooning ears, the choir's amen.
Beloved, dost thou love? or did I see all
The glory as I dreamed, and fainted when
Too vehement light dilated my ideal,
For my soul's eyes? Will that light come again,
As now these tears come--falling hot and real?

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) , no title, from Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 30, published 1850

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864-1942) , "I see thine image through my tears to-night", published 1910 [medium voice and piano], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 30.
by Peter Tahourdin (1928-2009) , "I see thine image through my tears to-night", 1968, first performed 1970 [cantata: speaker, alto, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, two violins, viola, violoncello, tape], from Riders in Paradise, no. ?

GER German (Rainer Maria Rilke)

Date added to the website: 2007-12-14.

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