Gavotte

Memories long in music sleeping,
 No more sleeping,
  No more dumb;
Delicate phantoms softly creeping
 Softly back from the old-world come.

Faintest odours around them straying,
 Suddenly straying
  In chambers dim;
Whispering silks in order swaying,
 Glimmering gems on shoulders slim:

Courage advancing strong and tender,
 Grace untender
  Fanning desire;
Suppliant conquest, proud surrender,
 Courtesy cold of hearts on fire -

Willowy billowy now they're bending,
 Low they're bending 
  Down-dropt eyes;
Stately measure and stately ending,
 Music sobbing, and a dream that dies.

Submitted by Virginia Knight

Authorship

• by Henry Newbolt, Sir (1862 - 1938), "Gavotte", appears in The Island Race, first published 1898 [ author's text not yet checked 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 Herbert Norman Howells (1892 - 1983), "Gavotte", 1919, published 1927. [soprano or tenor and piano] [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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