by John Alan Haughton (1880 - 1951)
The crystal gazer
Language: English
Within my hand I held a crystal sphere And in its depths I gazed, where one by one, A thousand shadow-shapes had come and gone In other days. The ball stay'd water-clear Nor could I make one image reappear Howe'er I tried. I said: I am foredone With waiting! Let me have oblivion Or else, show me of all, the One Most Dear! Then suddenly across the globe did dart A myriad of shades and each more fair than each, Until in one the misty band did merge. I knew the Long-Desired was there Because I saw your face. And lo, my hand No longer held the sphere, but my own heart!
Text Authorship:
- by John Alan Haughton (1880 - 1951) [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 Arthur Walter Kramer (1890 - 1969), "The crystal gazer", op. 45 no. 2, published 1921 [voice and piano], Oliver Ditson Co. [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-04-13
Line count: 18
Word count: 112