The donkey | When fishes flew and forests walked

by Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 - 1936)

The donkey

Language: English

Our translations: GER

When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil's walking parody
On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.

Text Authorship:

by Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 - 1936), "The donkey", appears in The Wild Knight and Other Poems, first published 1900 [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 Alexius Baas , "The donkey", published 1930 [ voice and piano ], Novello; New York: H. W. Gray ; in the British Library [sung text not yet checked]
by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The donkey", 2010 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by (Edward) Maurice Besly (1888 - 1945), "The donkey", op. 24 no. 2, published 1923 [ voice and piano ], London: Boosey & Co.; in the British Library [sung text not yet checked]
by Rutland Boughton (1878 - 1960), "The donkey", 1928, published 1929 [ chorus a cappella ], from Three Partsongs [sung text not yet checked]
by Dora Estella Bright (1863 - 1951), "The donkey", published 1936 [ medium voice and piano ], London: Elkin & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Vera (Winifred) Buck (1903 - 1986), "The donkey", published 1935 [ voice and piano ], London: Cary & Co.; two versions [sung text not yet checked]
by Walter Joseph Buczynski (b. 1933), "The donkey", published c1954 [ high voice and piano ], from Cycle of Three Songs, no. 2, Toronto, ON: Canadian Music Centre [sung text not yet checked]
by Erik Chisholm (1904 - 1965), "The Donkey", 1923 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979), "The donkey", copyright © 1928 [ voice and piano ], later published by Oxford University Press, 2002 [sung text not yet checked]
by Henry Dixon Cowell (1897 - 1965), "The donkey", L. 695 (1946), published 1947, first performed 1946 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Richard Hageman (1881 - 1966), "The donkey", published 1934 [ high voice and piano ], London: Winthrop Rogers [sung text checked 1 time]
by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "The donkey" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Colin Mawby , "The donkey", published c2007 [ SATB chorus and organ ], Matfield: Encore Publications [sung text not yet checked]
by Harold Noble (1903 - 1998), "The donkey", published c1948, J. & W. Chester [sung text not yet checked]
by Hunter Purdie , "The donkey", published c1962 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], New York: G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Rettich (1892 - 1988), "The donkey", op. 132 no. 14, published c1960 [ voice and piano ], from Meditatio. Twenty-one more or less parabolic songs, no. 14, Astoria Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "The donkey", published 1936 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ], London: J. Curwen & Sons [sung text not yet checked]
by Joseph Roff (1910 - 1993), "The donkey", 1948 [ voice and chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Humphrey Searle (1915 - 1982), "The donkey", 1971, published 1974 [ medium male voice and piano ], self-published [sung text not yet checked]
by Leo Smit (1921 - 1999), "The donkey" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Greta Tomlins (1912 - 1972), "The donkey", published c1968 [ chorus and piano ], South Croydon: Alfred Lengnick & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Bryceson Treharne (1879 - 1948), "The donkey", published 1917 [ voice and piano ], Boston, MA: Boston Music Co. [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller

This text was added to the website: 2004-02-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 89