by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)
Invitation to Love
Language: English
Come when the nights are bright with stars Or when the moon is mellow; Come when the sun his golden bars Drops on the hay-field yellow. Come in the twilight soft and gray, Come in the night or come in the day, Come, O love, whene'er you may, And you are welcome, welcome. You are sweet, O Love, dear Love, You are soft as the nesting dove. Come to my heart and bring it rest As the bird flies home to its welcome nest. Come when my heart is full of grief Or when my heart is merry; Come with the falling of the leaf Or with the redd'ning cherry. Come when the year's first blossom blows, Come when the summer gleams and glows, Come with the winter's drifting snows, And you are welcome, welcome.
Authorship:
- by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "Invitation to Love", appears in Majors and Minors, first published 1895 [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 Granville English (1895 - 1968), "Invitation to Love", published 1923 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork (b. 1941), "Invitation to Love", 1994, from Four Love Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "Invitation to Love", op. 349 no. 3 (2022) [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder nach Paul Laurence Dunbar, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Theophil Wendt , "Invitation to Love", published 1901 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-27
Line count: 20
Word count: 135