by Nelle Richmond Eberhart (1871 - 1944)
Far Off I Hear a Lover's Flute
Language: English
Far off I hear a lover's flute A-crying thro' the gloom; Far off the golden waters flow A-down their sandy flume. I see the shrunken Mother Moon Go forth to meet the Day, While dim and white the dead ones walk Upon the Spirit Way. Why should I wake and walk tonight When all the lodge is still? Why should I watch the Ghostly Road, So high and white and chill? Why should I hate the crying flute Which happy lovers play? Ah! far and white my loved one walks Along the Spirit Way!
Authorship:
- by Nelle Richmond Eberhart (1871 - 1944) [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 Charles Wakefield Cadman (1881 - 1946), "Far Off I Hear a Lover's Flute", op. 45 no. 3, published 1909, from Four American Indian Songs, no. 3. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Geoffrey Wieting
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 94