I have desired to go Where springs not fail, To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail And a few lilies blow. And I have asked to be Where no storms come, Where the green swell is in the havens dumb, And out of the swing of the sea.
Four songs for voice and piano , opus 13
by Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981)
1. A nun takes the veil  [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
Subtitle: Heaven-Haven
Authorship:
- by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889), "Heaven-Haven", subtitle: "A nun takes the veil", appears in Lyra Sacra: A Book of Religious Verse, first published 1895
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , subtitle: "Sie geht ins Kloster", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
2. The secrets of the old  [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
I have old women's secrets now That had those of the young; Madge tells me what I dared not think When my blood was strong, And what had drowned a lover once Sounds like an old song. Though Marg'ry is stricken dumb If thrown in Madge's way, We three make up a solitude; For none alive today Can know the stories that we know Or say the things we say: How such a man pleased women most Of all that are gone, How such a pair loved many years And such a pair but one, Stories of the bed of straw Or the bed of down.
Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The secrets of the old", appears in The Tower
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First published in London Mercury, May 1927 as one of "Two Songs from the Old Countryside", then included as one of "The Old Countryman" in October Blast (1927), then included as one of "A Man Young and Old" in The TowerResearcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
3. Sure on this shining night  [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
Sure on this shining night [ ... ]
Authorship:
- by James Agee (1909 - 1955), "Description of Elysium", appears in Permit Me Voyage, stanzas 6-8, first published 1934, copyright ©
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- SPA Spanish (Español) (José Miguel Llata) , "Sin duda en esta brillante noche", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
4. Nocturne  [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
Close my darling both your eyes [ ... ]
Authorship:
- by Frederic Prokosch (1908 - 1989), "Nocturne", appears in The Carnival, no. 30, first published 1938, copyright ©
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This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.