by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 - 1909)
A roundel is wrought as a ring or a...
Language: English
A roundel is wrought as a ring or a sphere, With craft of delight and with cunning of sound unsought, That the heart of the hearer may smile if to pleasure his ear A roundel is wrought. Its jewel of music is carven of all or of aught -- Love, laughter or mourning, remembrance of rapture or fear -- That fancy may fashion to hang in the ear of thought. As a bird's quick song runs round, and the hearts in us hear Pause answer to pause, and again the same strain caught, So moves the device whence, round as a pearl or tear, A roundel is wrought.
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Text Authorship:
- by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 - 1909), "The roundel", appears in A Century of Roundels, first published 1883 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Leo Smith (1881 - 1952), "A roundel is wrought" [SSAA chorus a cappella] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-27
Line count: 11
Word count: 106