The Mythical Horizon

In 1924, a couple of years before he died, Gabriel Fauré wrote a four-song cycle called "L'horizon chimérique" ("The Mythical Horizon"). It's a beautiful eight minutes of music. Click here for the whole translated text (which is poetry by Jean de la Ville de Mirmont) and some discussion.

I. La mer est infinie (The Sea Is Infinite)
II. Je me suis embarqué (I Set Sail)
III. Diane, Séléné (Diana, Goddess)
IV. Vaisseaux, nous vous aurons aimés en pure perte (Ships, We Shall Have Loved You in Vain)

Ships, we shall have loved you in vain;
The last of you are all gone on the sea.
Sunset brings so many open sails
That this port and my heart are forever deserted.

The sea has returned you to your destiny
Beyond the shores where our steps halt.
We could not keep your sails enchained;
You must have far-away places that I do not know.

I am among those whose desires are on land.
The wind which intoxicates you fills my heart with fear,
But your call, in the depth of the nights, makes me despair,
For I have great departures unsatisfied in me.

Gabriel Fauré