by Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793 - 1835)
What hid'st thou in thy treasure caves...
Language: English
What hid'st thou in thy treasure caves and cells, Thou [hollow]1 sounding and mysterious main! Pale glist'ning pearls and rainbow coloured shells, Bright things which gleam unrecked of, and in vain. Keep, keep thy riches, melancholy sea, We ask not, we ask not such from thee. [Yet]2 more, the billows and the depths have more, High hearts and brave are gathered to thy breast; They hear not how the booming waters roar; The battle thunders wil not break their rest. Keep thy red gold and gems, thou stormy grave; Give back, give back the true and brave. Dark [flow]3 thy tides o'er manhood's noble head, O'er youth's bright locks and beauty's flow'ry crown. Yet must thou hear a voice: restore the dead! Earth shall reclaim her precious things from thee! Restore, retore the dead, thou sea!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Loder: "ever"
2 Loder: "But"
3 Loder: "roll"
Authorship:
- by Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793 - 1835) [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 Frances Arkwright (1787 - 1849), "Treasures of the deep", subtitle: "A ballad", published <<1830? [ voice and piano ], from A set of six songs, no. 5, London : J. Power [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edward James Loder (1813 - 1865), "Invocation to the Deep", subtitle: "Canzonet", published c1840 [ voice and piano ], London: Stanley Lucas, Weber & Co. [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 17
Word count: 136