O Sweetheart, hear you

O Sweetheart, hear you 
  Your lover's tale; 
A man shall have sorrow 
  When friends him fail. 

For he shall know then 
	Friends be untrue 
And a little ashes 
  Their words come to. 

But one unto him 
  Will softly move 
And softly woo him 
  In ways of love. 

His hand is under 
  Her smooth round breast; 
So he who has sorrow 
  Shall have rest.

by James Joyce (1882-1941) , from Chamber Music, no. 18, 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. 12 (1998) [tenor and string quartet], from Chamber Music, no. 12.
by Roberto Di Marino (1956-) , no title, from Tre Liriche per Coro e Chitarra, no. 1.

by András Mihály (1917-) , no title, 1958 [mezzo-soprano and piano], from Chamber Music

FRE French (Guy Laffaille)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Ô bien‑aimée, écoute

Ô bien-aimée, écoute
Le récit de ton amant ;
Un homme aura du chagrin
Quand ses amis le décevront.

Car il saura alors
Que ses amis ne sont pas fidèles
Et en un petit tas de cendres
Leurs paroles se sont transformées.

Mais une jusqu'à lui
Viendra doucement
Et doucement lui fera la cour
Sur les chemins de l'amour.

Sa main est sous
Son sein lisse et rond ;
Ainsi celui qui a du chagrin
Aura le repos.

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. 18, published 1907

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