Lord Byron: So, we’ll go no more a-roving
So, we’ll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.
For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.
Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we’ll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.
Hát mi már nem kóborlunk többé
Oly késő éjeken át,
Bár a szív még szerelemtől terhes,
És a holdfény is árad ránk.
Mert a kard túléli tokját,
S a lélek a lélegzetet,
Álljt mond a szív is, úgy dobban,
Ellobban a láng, kell a csend.
Bár az éj szerelemre termett,
S olyan gyorsan feljön a Nap,
Soha már nem kóborlunk többé
A fénylő Hold alatt.
Hungarian translation by Gábor Domján
LUTE-GUITAR,
planned and built by András Bergmann Jr. in Budapest in 1925
This poem of Lord Byron was set to music by Richard Dyer-Bennet. I first heard it sung by Joan Baez in the early seventies. I follow here the original accompaniment with minimal differences on a lute guitar tuned to d/a/f/c/G/C. I felt this instrument fits best the romantic poem and song.
At least visually.
Addendum: A contemporary composer (unfortunately forgot the name) wrote a duo for lute and bagpipe. When he was criticized for the lute being non-audible due to the bagpipe, his answer was something like this: It is deliberately so. I wanted to draw attention to the importance of the neglected visual aspect of music.
Some other personal addendum: Finishing recording this song a couple of times, being hungry and searching for a restaurant ’so late in the night’, friend Tamás and I found ourselves in the streets of Budapest ’a-roving by the light of the moon’.