African Romances , opus 17

by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 - 1912)

1. An African Love Song
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
  My heart to thy heart,
    My hand to thine;
  My lip to thy lips,
    Kisses are wine
Brewed for the lover in sunshine and shade;
Let me drink deep, then, my African maid.

  Lily to lily,
    Rose unto rose;
  My love to thy love
    Tenderly grows.
Rend not the oak and the ivy in twain,
Nor the swart maid from her swarthier swain.

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2. A prayer  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
O Lord, the hard-won miles
  Have worn my stumbling feet:
Oh, soothe me with thy smiles,
  And make my life complete.

The thorns were thick and keen
  Where'er I trembling trod;
The way was long between
  My wounded feet and God.

Where healing waters flow
  Do thou my footsteps lead.
My heart is aching so;
  Thy gracious balm I need.

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3. A starry night
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
A cloud fell down from the heavens,
  And broke on the mountain's brow;
It scattered the dusky fragments
  All over the vale below.

The moon and the stars were anxious
  To know what its fate might be;
So they rushed to the azure op'ning,
  And all peered down to see.

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

  • CHI Chinese (中文) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , "繁星之夜", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

4. Dawn
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
An angel, robed in spotless white,
Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.
Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.
Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.

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5. Ballad
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
I know my love is true,
  And oh the day is fair.
The sky is clear and blue,
The flowers are rich of hue,
  The air I breathe is rare,
  I have no grief or care;
For my own love is true,
  And oh 'the day is fair.

My love is false I find,
  And oh the day is dark.
Blows sadly down the wind,
While sorrow holds my mind;
  I do not hear the lark,
  For quenched is life's sweet spark, -- 
My love is false I find,
  And oh the day is dark!

For love doth make the day
  Or dark or doubly bright;
Her beams along the way
Dispel the gloom and gray.
  She lives and all is bright,
  She dies and life is night.
For love doth make the day,
 Or dark or doubly bright.

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6. Over the hills  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Over the hills and the valleys of dreaming
  Slowly I take my way.
Life is the night with its dream-visions teeming,
  Death is the waking at day.

Down thro' the dales and the bowers of loving,
  Singing, I roam afar.
Daytime or night-time, I constantly roving, -- 
  Dearest one, thou art my star.

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7. How shall I woo thee
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
How shall I woo thee to win thee, mine own?
  Say in what tongue shall I tell of my love.
I who was fearless so timid have grown,
  All that was eagle has turned into dove.
The path from the meadow that leads to the bars
Is more to me now than the path of the stars.

How shall I woo thee to win thee, mine own,
  Thou who art fair and as far as the moon?
Had I the strength of the torrent's wild tone,
  Had I the sweetness of warblers in June;
The strength and the sweetness might charm and persuade,
But neither have I my petition to aid.

How shall I woo thee to win thee, mine own?
  How shall I traverse the distance between
My humble cot and your glorious throne?
  How shall a clown gain the ear of a queen?
Oh teach me the tongue that shall please thee the best,
For till I have won thee my heart may not rest.

Text Authorship:

  • by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "How shall I woo thee", from Majors and Minors, first published 1895

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