Aria
Delerium Lyrics


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I have wist, sin i couthe meen,
That children hath by candle light
Her shadewe on the wal iseen,

And ronne therafter all the night.
Bisy aboute they han ben
To catchen it with all here might.
And whom they catchen it best wolde wene,
Sannest it shet out of her sight,
The shadewe catchen they ne might,

For no lines that they couthe lay.




This shadewe i may likne aright
To this world and yesterday.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Delerium's song Aria are drawn from an ancient anonymous poem, which vividly describes the futile efforts of children to catch the shadow of a candle flame on the wall. The singer muses that he has always known, since he was a child, that such games are ultimately fruitless. The children run after the shadow all night, eager to catch it with all their might, but every time they think they have caught it, it slips away again, leaving no trace of its presence. For the singer, the shadow serves as a metaphor for the fleeting nature of life and of the past, which can never be recaptured or pinned down.


Line by Line Meaning

I have wist, sin i couthe meen,
Since I was able to speak, I have known


That children hath by candle light
That children, in the light of a candle


Her shadewe on the wal iseen,
Have seen her shadow on a wall


And ronne therafter all the night.
And have chased after it all night.


Bisy aboute they han ben
They have been quite busy


To catchen it with all here might.
Trying to catch it with all their might.


And whom they catchen it best wolde wene,
And the one who they caught it on would think himself the best,


Sannest it shet out of her sight,
But soon it would be gone from sight,


The shadewe catchen they ne might,
They could not catch the shadow,


For no lines that they couthe lay.
For no trap that they could set.


This shadewe i may likne aright
I can rightly liken this shadow


To this world and yesterday.
To this world and to the past.




Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: PAOLO GHIRINGHELLI, FRANCESCO GRAMEGNA

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

isabel rezola cenoz

LETRAS
I have wist, sin i couthe meen,
That children hath by candle light
Her shadewe on the wal iseen,
And ronne therafter all the night.
Bisy aboute they han ben
To catchen it with all here might.
And whom they catchen it best wolde wene,
Sannest it shet out of her sight,
The shadewe catchen they ne might,
For no lines that they couthe lay.
This shadewe i may likne aright
To this world and yesterday.



Vladas Cinga

Ever since i could remember, I have known
That children, by candle light,
Have seen a shadow on the wall
And have chased it all night through.

Busily they have tried
With all their might to catch it

When they are close to catch it
It shoots quickly out of sight -
This shadow they will never catch
In any trap they lay

This shadow, I liken it
To this world and yesterday.



All comments from YouTube:

TalliCat Games

It is Middle English. Many great epic poems were written in Middle English... and now a great song. I am impressed and awed that anyone would take up such a challenging language to write a song with. I love the way it flows when spoken and now I can hear how it flows when it is sung. Splendid! Bravo!

Nick Brutanna

Rhys Fulber is Delerium. He did the music (not the lyrics).

He seems to like working with awesome female singers, look into Conjure One, another of his projects, and also Fauxliage, with Leigh Nash.

Kevin Wipf

😇

Kim Roberts

Very beautiful song.

Archie Young

Translation: Ever since I could remember, I have known That children, by candle light, Have seen a shadow on the wall And have chased it all night through Busily, they have tried With all their might, to catch it. And when they most Expect to catch it It shoots most quickly out of sight. This shadow never shall be caught In any trap they lay. This shadow in the likeness, Of this world and yesterday

Animax

After being on youtube for years, we must say that this is one of the songs that was worth it!!!

NafNav32

This version of the song was composed by the group Delirium (which does collaborations with many artists, including Sarah MacLachlan) and performed by The Mediaeval Baebes.

Ed Burton

I could listen to this song continuously for hours....in fact I have

Brandon Michael

I am.

marion evans

me too...and I share it to my FB friends on their birthday...

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