by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)
Cy est Pourtraicte, Madame Ste Ursule, et les Unze Mille Vierges
Language: English
Ursula, in a garden, found A bed of radishes. She kneeled upon the ground And gathered them, With flowers around, Blue, gold, pink, and green. She dressed in red and gold brocade And in the grass an offering made Of radishes and flowers. She said, "My dear, Upon your altars, I have placed The marguerite and coquelicot, And roses Frail as April snow; But here," she said, "Where none can see, I make an offering, in the grass, Of radishes and flowers." And then she wept For fear the Lord would not accept. The good Lord in His garden sought New leaf and shadowy tinct, And they were all His thought. He heard her low accord, Half prayer and half ditty, And He felt a subtle quiver, That was not heavenly love, Or pity. This is not writ In any book.
First published in the magazine Rogue, 1915
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Authorship:
- by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), "Cy est Pourtraicte, Madame Ste Ursule, et les Unze Mille Vierges", appears in Harmonium, first published 1923 [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 John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Cy est Pourtraicte, Madame Ste Ursule, et les Unze Mille Vierges", op. 142 no. 5, published 1977 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from Five Part Songs to Poems by Wallace Stevens, no. 5, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-01-07
Line count: 31
Word count: 141