Through the old city’s silence,
   Where the Abana flows,
O harken to the nightingale
   Sing lyrics to the rose!

But through the dusk no answer
   Is ever breathed or sung,
Tho’ the bird’s heart with pleading
   The whole night long is wrung.

Yet well the lonely songster
   Knows that the red rose hears.
... Ah, Love, I need no answer,
   But let me see your tears!

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Confirmed with The Quiet Singer and Other Poems by Charles Hanson Towne, B. W. Dodge & Company, New York 1908, Page 125.

Text Authorship:

• by Charles Hanson Towne (1877 - 1949), no title, appears in The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, in 86. A Lover in Damascus, no. 2, New York, B. W. Dodge & Company, first published 1908 [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 Amy Woodforde-Finden (1860 - 1919), "Where the Abana flows", published 1904 [ voice and piano ], from A lover in Damascus, no. 2, Boosey & Co. [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , John Glenn Paton [Guest Editor] , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-10-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 68