My dove, my beautiful one

My dove, my beautiful one, 
  Arise, arise! 
  The night-dew lies 
Upon my lips and eyes. 

The odorous winds are weaving 
  A music of sighs: 
  Arise, arise, 
My dove, my beautiful one! 

I wait by the cedar tree, 
  My sister, my love. 
  White breast of the dove, 
My breast shall be your bed. 

The pale dew lies 
  Like a veil on my head. 
  My fair one, my fair dove, 
Arise, arise!1

by James Joyce (1882-1941) , from Chamber Music, no. 14, published 1907

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

by David Arditti (1964-) , no title, op. 20 no. 9 (1998) [tenor and string quartet], from Chamber Music, no. 9.
by James Brown , "My dove, my beautiful one" [tenor or baritone and piano]
by David Del Tredici (1937-) , "Dove song", published 1974 [voice and piano], from Four Songs on Texts of James Joyce, no. ?
by Jack Maurice Jarrett (1934-) , "My dove, my beautiful one", published 1965 [SATB chorus and piano], from Love's Counsel, no. ?
by Hugo Kauder (1888-1972) , "My dove, my beautiful one", published 1955 [soprano, alto, and tenor with string quartet], from Ten Poems, no. ?
by (Kurt) Rudolf Mengelberg (1892-1959) , "My dove, my beautiful one", published 1960 [medium voice and piano], from Chamber music, no. 4.
by Paul Amadeus Pisk (1893-) , "My dove, my beautiful one", op. 101 no. ? [tenor and piano], from Songs from "Chamber Music" by James Joyce, no. ?
by Hermann Reutter (1900-1985) , "My dove, my beautiful one", 1972 [low male voice and piano], from Chamber Music, no. ?
by Irwin Spector (1916-) , "My dove, my beautiful one" [medium voice, oboe, viola, and piano], from Songs of Love and Music, no. ?
by Conrad Susa (1935-) , "My dove, my beautiful one", published 1973 [SATB and piano], from Chamber Music, no. ?
by Karol Maciej Szymanowski (1882-1937) , "My dove, my beautiful one", op. 54 (Seven Songs) no. 4, published 1926. [voice and piano]
by Graham Martin Treacher (1932-) , "The dove", published 1963. [three soli and two-part children's chorus a cappella]

FRE French (Guy Laffaille)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Ma colombe, ma belle

Ma colombe, ma belle,
Lève-toi, lève-toi !
La rosée de la nuit se pose
Sur mes lèvres et mes yeux.

Les vents odorants tissent
Une musique de soupirs :
Lève-toi, lève-toi,
Ma colombe, ma belle !

J'attends près du cèdre,
ma sœur, mon amour,
Sein blanc de la colombe,
Mon sein sera ton lit.

La pâle rosée se pose
Comme un voile sur ma tête.
Ma blonde, ma belle colombe,
Lève-toi, lève-toi !

Translation from English to French copyright © 2009 by Guy Laffaille (guylaffaille (AT) yahoo (DOT) fr), (re)printed on this website with kind permission. Please contact the copyright-holder when requesting permission to reprint.

a text in English by James Joyce (1882-1941) , from Chamber Music, no. 14, published 1907

Date added to the website: 2009-11-06.