A very old woman Lives in yon house. The squeak of the cricket, The stir of the mouse, Are all she knows Of the earth and us. Once she was young, Would dance and play, Like many another Young popinjay; And run to her mother At dusk of day. And colours bright She delighted in; The fiddle to hear, And to lift her chin, And sing as small As a twittering wren. But age apace Comes at last to all; And a lone house filled With the cricket's call; And the scampering mouse In the hollow wall.
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Text Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Alone", appears in The Listeners and Other Poems, first published 1912 [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 James Brown , "Alone" [ soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul McIntyre , "Alone", 1950 [ soprano and piano ], from Four Poems of Walter de la Mare [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Stanley Smith (1877 - 1949), "Alone", 1919 [ voice and piano ], from Portraits [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-13
Line count: 24
Word count: 97