by Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793 - 1835)
The Messenger Bird
Language: English
Thou art come from the spirit's land, thou bird! Thou art come from the spirit's land, Thro' the dark pine grove let thy voice be heard, And tell of the shadowy band, tell of the shadowy band. We know that the bow'rs are green and fair, In the light of that summer shore, And we know that the fiends we have lost are there, they are there, they are there, And they weep no more. But tell us, but tell us, Tell us thou bird of the solemn strain, Can those who have lov'd forget? We call and they answer not again, We call and they answer not again, Oh! say do they love us yet? Do they love us yet? Do they love us yet? We call them far through the silent night, And they speak not from cave nor hill, We know thou bird, that their land is bright, But say, oh! say do they love there still? Do they lover there still? Do they love there still?
Authorship:
- by Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793 - 1835) [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 Harriet Browne (1790 - 1858), "The Messenger Bird", published 1830? [ vocal duet with piano ], London : Willis & Co. [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2023-06-12
Line count: 21
Word count: 170