King David was a sorrowful man: No cause for his sorrow had he; And he called for the music of a hundred harps, To ease his melancholy. They played till they all fell silent: Played and play sweet did they; But the sorrow that haunted the heart of King David They could not charm away. He rose; and in his garden Walked by the moon alone, A nightingale hidden in a cypress tree, Jargoned on and on. King David lifted his sad eyes Into the dark-boughed tree -- "Tell me, thou little bird that singest, Who taught my grief to thee?" But the bird in no-wise heeded; And the king in the cool of the moon Hearkened to the nightingale's sorrowfulness, Till all his own was gone.
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Confirmed with Peacock Pie. A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., [1920], page 111.
Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "King David", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 4. Places and People, no. 12, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "King David", published 1951 [ mezzo-soprano solo (or semichorus), SSA chorus, and string orchestra, and piano ], from In a Dream's Beguiling [sung text not yet checked]
- by Herbert Norman Howells (1892 - 1983), "King David", 1919, published 1923 [ voice and piano ], from A Garland for de la Mare, no. 12 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Michael John Hurd (1928 - 2006), "King David", published 1968 [ unison chorus and piano ], from Sea and Shore Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Proctor (1906 - 1996), "King David", published 1945 [ high voice and piano or string orchestra ], from Four Various Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Freda Mary Swain (1902 - 1985), "King David", 1945-50 [ baritone and piano or string quartet ensemble ], from From "Peacock Pie" [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Sharon Krebs) , "König David", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (José Miguel Llata) , "El rey David", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Virginia Knight , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 127