I speak not ‑‑ I trace not ‑‑ I breathe...

I speak not -- I trace not -- I breathe not thy name,
There is grief in the sound, there were guilt in the fame;
But the tear which now burns on my cheek may impart
The deep thoughts that dwell in that silence of heart.

Too brief for our passion, too long for our peace,
Were those hours, can their joy or their bitterness cease?
We repent -- we abjure -- we will break from our chain,
We will part -- we will fly -- to unite it again!

Oh! thine be the gladness, and mine be the guilt!
Forgive me adored one -- forsake if thou wilt;
But the heart which I bear shall expire undebased,
And man shall not break it -- whatever thou may'st.

And stern to the haughty, but humble to thee,
My soul, in its bitterest blackness shall be;
And our days seem as swift -- and our moments more sweet
With thee by my side -- than the world at our feet.

One sigh of thy sorrow -- one look of thy love
Shall turn me or fix, shall reward or reprove;
And the heartless may wonder at all we resign,
Thy lip shall reply not to them -- but to mine.

by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788-1824) , "I speak not -- I trace not -- I breathe not", from Hebrew Melodies, no. 26, published 1815

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

by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "I speak not -- I trace not -- I breathe not", published 1840 [medium voice and piano], from A Set of Five Songs, no. ?
by Arthur Edmund Grimshaw (1864-?) , "I breathe not thy name", op. 2 no. 3, published 1884. [high voice and piano]
by Cyril Bertram Lander , "Stanzas for music" [high voice and piano], from Flores de mi primavera, no. ?
by Isaac Nathan (1790-1864) , "I speak not -- I trace not -- I breathe not", published 1815 [voice and piano], from A Selection of Hebrew Melodies No. I, no. 26.
by George Schmidt , "I speak not, I trace not", published 1851. [voice and piano]

Date added to the website: 2009-08-08.

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