Odalisques, odalisques, Treading the pavement With feet pomegranate-stained: We bartered for, bought you Back in the years Ah, then we knew you, Odalisques, odalisques, Treading the pavement With feet pomegranate-stained! Queens of the air Aithra, lole, Eos and Auge, Taking new beauty From the sun's evening brightness, Gyring in light As nymphs play in waters Aithra, lole, Eos and Auge! Then down on our doorsteps, Gretchen and Dora. . . .
Five Irish Songs
Song Cycle by Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953)
1. The pigeons  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by Padraic Colum (1881 - 1972), "The pidgeons", appears in Dramatic Legends and Other Poems, first published 1922
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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.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. As I came over the grey, grey hills  [sung text not yet checked]
As I came over the grey, grey hills And over the grey, grey water, I saw the gilly leading on, And the white Christ following after. Where and where does the gilly lead? And where is the white Christ faring? They've travelled the four grey sounds of Orc, And the four grey seas of Eirinn. The moon is set and the wind's away, And the song in the grass is dying, And a silver cloud on the silent sea Like a shrouding-sheet is lying. And Christ and the gilly will follow on Till the ring in the east is showing, And the awny corn is red on the hills, And the golden light is glowing.
Authorship:
- by Joseph Campbell (1881 - 1944), as Seosamh Mac Cathmhaoil, "As I came over the grey, grey hills", appears in The Gilly of Christ, first published 1907
See other settings of this text.
Confirmed with Joseph Campbell as Seosamh Mac Cathmhaoil, The Gilly of Christ, Dublin: Maunsel & Co., Limited, 1907, page 7.
Researcher for this page: Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
3. I heard a piper piping  [sung text not yet checked]
I heard a piper piping The blue hills among — And never did I hear So plaintive a song. It seemed but a part Of the hills’ melancholy: No piper living there Could ever be jolly! And still the piper piped The blue hills among, And all the birds were quiet To listen to his song.
Authorship:
- by Joseph Campbell (1881 - 1944), as Seosamh MacCathmhaoil, "I heard a piper piping", appears in The Mountainy Singer, Dublin, Maunsel and Company, first published 1909
See other settings of this text.
Confirmed with Seosamh MacCathmhaoil, The Mountainy Singer, Dublin, Maunsel and Company, 1909, page 58.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
4. Across the door  [sung text not yet checked]
The fiddles were playing and playing, The couples were out on the floor; From converse and dancing he drew me, And across the door. Ah! strange were the dim, wide meadows, And strange was the cloud-strewn sky, And strange in the meadows the corncrakes, And they making cry! The hawthorn bloom was by us, Around us the breath of the south White hawthorn, strange in the night-time His kiss on my mouth!
Authorship:
- by Padraic Colum (1881 - 1972), "Across the door", appears in Wild Earth, first published 1907
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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.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. Beg‑Innish  [sung text not yet checked]
Bring Kateen-beug and Maurya Jude To dance in Beg-Innish, And when the lads (they're in Dunquin) Have sold their crabs and fish, Wave fawny shawls and call them in, And call the little girls who spin, And seven weavers from Dunquin, To dance in Beg-Innish. I'll play you jigs, and Maurice Kean, Where nets are laid to dry, I've silken strings would draw a dance From girls are lame or shy; Four strings I've brought from Spain and France To make your long men skip and prance, Till stars look out to see the dance Where nets are laid to dry. We'll have no priest or peeler in To dance in Beg-Innish; But we'll have drink from M'riarty Jim Rowed round while gannets fish, A keg with porter to the brim, That every lad may have his whim, Till we up sails with M'riarty Jim And sail from Ben-Innish.
Authorship:
- by John Millington Synge (1871 - 1909), "Beg-Innish", appears in Poems by J. M. Synge, first published 1909
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]