A little while when I am gone My life will live in music after me, As spun foam lifted and borne on After the wave is lost in the full sea. A while these nights and days will burn In song with the bright frailty of foam, Living in light before they turn Back to the nothingness that is their home.
Bright April
Song Cycle by Rick Sowash (b. 1950)
1. A little while  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "A little while", appears in Flame and Shadow, first published 1920
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
2. A maiden  [sung text checked 1 time]
Oh if I were the velvet rose Upon the red rose vine, I'd climb to touch his window And make his casement fine. And if I were the [little]1 bird That twitters on the tree, All day I'd sing my love for him Till he should harken me. But since I am a maiden I go with downcast eyes, And he will never hear the songs That he has turned to sighs. And since I am a maiden My love will never know That I could kiss him with a mouth More red than roses blow.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "A maiden", appears in Helen of Troy and Other Poems, first published 1911
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Sowash: "bright-eye'd"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
3. Less than the cloud to the wind  [sung text checked 1 time]
Less than the cloud to the wind, Less than the foam to the sea, Less than the rose to the storm, Am I to thee. More than the star to the night, More than the rain to the [tree]1, More than heaven to earth Art thou to me.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Less than the cloud to the wind", appears in Helen of Troy and Other Poems, first published 1911
See other settings of this text.
View original text (without footnotes)1 Leoni: "lea"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
4. I shall not care  [sung text checked 1 time]
When I am dead and over me bright April Shakes out her rain-drenched hair, Tho' you should lean above me broken-hearted, I shall not care. I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful When rain bends down the bough, And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted Than you are now.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "I shall not care", appears in Rivers to the Sea, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. Grey eyes  [sung text checked 1 time]
It was April when you came The first time to me, And my first look in your eyes Was like my first look at the sea. We have been together Four Aprils now Watching for the green On the swaying willow bough; Yet whenever I turn To your gray eyes over me, It is as though I looked For the first time at the sea.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Gray eyes"
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]6. Gifts  [sung text checked 1 time]
I gave my first love laughter, I gave my second tears, I gave my third love silence Thru all the years. My first love gave me singing, My second eyes to see, [But oh, it was my third love Who gave my soul to me]1.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Gifts", appears in Rivers to the Sea, first published 1915
See other settings of this text.
View original text (without footnotes)1 Sowash: "But oh my third love/ Gave my soul to me"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
7. Reprise: A little while  [sung text checked 1 time]
A little while when I am gone My life will live in music after me, As spun foam lifted and borne on After the wave is lost in the full sea. A while these nights and days will burn In song with the bright frailty of foam, Living in light before they turn Back to the nothingness that is their home.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "A little while", appears in Flame and Shadow, first published 1920
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission