by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
Lethe
Language: English
Ah, drink again This river that is the taker-away of pain And the giver-back of beauty! In these cool waves What can be lost? Only the sorry cost Of the lovely thing, ah, never the thing itself! The level flood that laves The hot brow And the stiff shoulder Is at our temples now Gone is the fever But not into the river; Melted the frozen pride But the tranquil tide Runs never the warmer for this Never the colder Immerse the dream Drench the kiss Dip the song in the stream
Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950) [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 Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979), "Lethe", 1941 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2020-10-16
Line count: 19
Word count: 92