With His songs and Her days to His Lady and to Love Violets and leaves of vine, Into a frail, fair wreath We gather and entwine: A wreath for Love to wear, Fragrant as his own breath, To crown his brow divine, All day till night is near. Violets and leaves of vine We gather and entwine. Violets and leaves of vine For Love that lives a day, We gather and entwine. All day till Love is dead, Till eve falls, cold and gray, These blossoms, yours and mine, Love wears upon his head. Violets and leaves of vine We gather and entwine. Violets and leaves of vine, Poor Love when poor Love dies We gather and entwine. This wreath that lives a day Over his pale, cold eyes, Kissed shut by Proserpine, At set of sun we lay: Violets and leaves of vine We gather and entwine.
Songs of Sorrow
Song Cycle by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953)
1. A Coronal  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900), "A Coronal", appears in Verses, London, Leonard Smithers, first published 1896
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , "花环", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Ernest Dowson, Verses, London: Leonard Smithers, 1896, pages xi-xii.
Research team for this page: David K. Smythe , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
2. Passing dreams  [sung text checked 1 time]
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter, Love and desire and hate: I think they have no portion in us after We pass the gate. They are not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream Our path emerges for a while, then closes Within a dream.
Authorship:
- by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900), "Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam", appears in Verses, London, Leonard Smithers, first published 1896
See other settings of this text.
Confirmed with Ernest Dowson, Verses, London: Leonard Smithers, 1896, front matter.
Research team for this page: David K. Smythe , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
3. A Land Of Silence  [sung text checked 1 time]
What land of Silence, Where pale stars shine On apple-blossom And dew-drenched vine, Is yours and mine? The silent valley That we will find, Where all the voices Of humankind Are left behind. There all forgetting, Forgotten quite, We will repose us, With our delight Hid out of sight. The world forsaken, And out of mind Honour and labour, We shall not find The stars unkind. And men shall travail, And laugh and weep; But we have vistas Of gods asleep, With dreams as deep. A land of Silence, Where pale stars shine On apple-blossoms And dew-drenched vine, Be yours and mine!
Authorship:
- by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900), "Beata Solitudo", appears in Verses, London, Leonard Smithers, first published 1896
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Confirmed with Ernest Dowson, Verses, London: Leonard Smithers, 1896, pages 32-33. Dedicated to Sam Smith.
Research team for this page: David K. Smythe , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
4. In spring  [sung text checked 1 time]
See how the trees and the osiers lithe Are green bedecked and the woods are blithe. The meadows have donned their cape of flowers, The air is soft with the sweet May showers, And the birds make melody: But the spring of the soul, the spring of the soul Cometh no more for you or for me. The lazy hum of the busy bees Murmureth through the almond trees; The jonquil flaunteth a gay, blonde head, The primrose peeps from a mossy bed, And the violets scent the lane. But the flowers of the soul, the flowers of the soul For you and for me bloom never again.
Authorship:
- by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900), "In Spring", appears in Decorations, first published 1899
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Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe