I used to wonder About living and dying -- I think the difference lies Between tears and crying. I used to wonder About here and there -- I think the distance Is nowhere.
Border Line
Song Cycle by Robert Owens (1925 - 2017)
1. Border line  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Border line", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 1, first published 1947
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. Night: Four Songs  [sung text checked 1 time]
Night of the two moons And the seventeen stars, Night of the day before yesterday And the day after tomorrow, Night of the four songs unsung: Sorrow! Sorrow! Sorrow! Sorrow!
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Night: Four Songs", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 2, first published 1947
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]3. Dustbowl  [sung text checked 1 time]
The land Wants me to come back To a handful of dust in autumn, To a raindrop In the palm of my hand In spring. The land Wants me to come back To a broken song in October, To a snowbird on the wing. The land Wants me To come back.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Dustbowl", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 3
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]4. Burden  [sung text checked 1 time]
It is not weariness That bows me down, But sudden nearness To song without sound.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Burden", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 4
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
First published in Carmel Pine Cone, Nov. 14, 1941Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
5. One  [sung text checked 1 time]
Lonely As the wind On the Lincoln Prairies. Lonely As a bottle of likker On a table All by itself.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "One", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 5
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]6. Beale Street  [sung text checked 1 time]
The dream is vague And all confused With dice and women And jazz and booze. The dream is vague, Without a name, Yet warm and wavering And sharp as flame. The loss Of the dream Leaves nothing The same.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Beale Street", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 6
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]7. Gifts  [sung text checked 1 time]
To some people Love is given. To others -- Only heaven.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Gifts", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 7
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]8. Circles  [sung text checked 1 time]
The circles spin round And the circles spin round And meet their own tail. Seasons come, seasons go, The years build their bars Till we're in jail. Like a squirrel in a cage -- For the jail is round -- We sometimes find Ourselves upside down.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Circles", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 8
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]9. Grave yard  [sung text checked 1 time]
Here is that sleeping place, Long resting place, No stretching place, That never-get-up-no-more Place Is here.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Grave yard", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 9
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]10. Convent  [sung text checked 1 time]
Tell me, Is there peace Behind your high stone walls -- Peace Where no worldly duty calls -- Or does some strange Insistence beckon With a challenge That appalls?
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Convent", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 10
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]11. Poppy flower  [sung text checked 1 time]
A wild poppy-flower Withered and died. The day-people laughed -- But the night-people cried. A wild poppy-flower Withered and died.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Poppy flower", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 11
See other settings of this text.
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
First published in Crisis, February 1925Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
12. Gypsy melodies  [sung text checked 1 time]
Songs that break And scatter Out of the moon: Rockets of joy Dimmed too soon.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Gypsy melodies", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 12
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]13. Montmartre  [sung text checked 1 time]
Pigalle: A neon rose In a champagne bottle. At dawn The petals Fall.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Montmartre", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 13
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Paridam von dem Knesebeck) (Eva Hesse) , "Montmartre", appears in Mein dunklen Hände. Moderne Negerlyrik in Original und Nachdichtung, copyright ©
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]14. Fragments  [sung text checked 1 time]
Whispers Of springtime. Death in the night. A song With too many Tunes.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Fragments", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 14
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]15. Desert  [sung text checked 1 time]
Anybody Better than Nobody. In the barren dusk Even the snake That spirals Terror on the sand -- Better than nobody In this lonely Land.
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Desert", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 15, first published 1947
See other settings of this text.
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Note: Owens moves a period in the first four lines as follows: "Anybody/
Better than/ Nobody/ In the barren dusk."
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
16. The end  [sung text checked 1 time]
There are No clocks on the wall, And no time, No shadows that move From dawn to dusk Across the floor. There is neither light Nor dark Outside the door. There is no door!
Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "End", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 16
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]