by Stephen Crane (1871 - 1900)
Once, I knew a fine song
Language: English
Once, I knew a fine song, -- It is true, believe me, -- It was all of birds, And I held them in a basket; When I opened the wicket, Heavens! They all flew away. I cried, "Come back, little thoughts! But they only laughed. They flew on Until they were as sand Thrown between me and the sky.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Stephen Crane (1871 - 1900), no title, appears in The Black Riders and Other Lines, no. 65 [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 N. Barrett-Thomas , "Once, I knew a fine song", published 1970. [alto and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-16
Line count: 11
Word count: 57