Of cool sweet dew and radiance mild The moon a web of silence weaves In the still garden where a child Gathers the simple salad leaves. A moondew stars her hanging hair And moonlight [kisses]1 her young brow And, gathering she sings an air: [Fair as the wave is, fair art thou!]2 Be mine, I pray, a waxen ear To shield me from her childish croon, And mine a shielded heart for her Who gathers simples of the moon.
Night Conjure-Verse
Song Cycle by David Del Tredici (1937 - 2023)
1. Simples  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), "Simples", appears in Pomes Penyeach, no. 7
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Simples", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
First published in Poetry, May 1917
An inscription reads: "O bella bionda!/ Sei come l'onda!"
1 in some editions, "touches"
2 Bliss: "O bella bionda! Sei come l'onda!" (the inscription)
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
2. A memory of the players in a mirror at midnight  [sung text checked 1 time]
They mouth love's language. Gnash The thirteen teeth Your lean jaws grin with. Lash Your itch and quailing, nude greed of the flesh. Love's breath in you is stale, worded or sung, As sour as cat's breath, Harsh of tongue. This grey that stares Lies not, stark skin and bone. Leave greasy lips their kissing. None Will choose her what you see to mouth upon. Dire hunger holds his hour. Pluck forth your heart, saltblood, a fruit of tears. Pluck and devour!
Authorship:
- by James Joyce (1882 - 1941), "A memory of the players in a mirror at midnight", written 1917, appears in Pomes Penyeach, no. 11
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Un souvenir des acteurs dans un miroir à minuit", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]