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Two Songs by Algernon Charles Swinburne

Song Cycle by Victor Herbert (1859 - 1924)

1. If love were what the rose is
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
If love were what the rose is,
  And I were like the leaf,
Our lives would grow together
In sad or singing weather,
Blown fields or flowerful closes,
  Green pleasure or grey grief;
If love were what the rose is,
  And I were like the leaf.

 ... 

If you were April's lady,
  And I were lord in May,
We 'd throw with leaves for hours
And draw for days with flowers,
Till day like night were shady
  And night were bright like day;
If you were April's lady,
  And I were lord in May.

Text Authorship:

  • by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 - 1909), "A match", appears in Poems and Ballads, first published 1866

See other settings of this text.

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

2. Love laid his sleepless head
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Love laid his sleepless head
On a thorny rosebed;
And his eyes with tears were red,
And pale his lips as the dead.

And fear and sorrow and scorn
Kept watch by his head forlorn,
Till the night was overworn
And the world was merry with morn.

And Joy came up with the day
And kissed Love's lips as he lay,
And the watchers ghostly and grey
Sped from his pillow away.

And his eyes as the dawn grew bright,
And his lips waxed ruddy as light:
Sorrow may reign for a night,
But day shall bring back delight.

Text Authorship:

  • by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 - 1909), "Song"

See other settings of this text.

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

  • HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Dezső Kosztolányi) , "Álmatlan szerelem"

First published in Examiner, December 1874
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 192
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