Oh give me neither love nor tears, Nor dreams that sear the night with fire, Go lightly on your pilgrimage Unburdened by desire. Forget me for a month, a year, But, oh, beloved, think of me When unexpected beauty burns Like sudden sunlight on the sea.
Vignettes Overseas
Song Cycle by Wintter Haynes Watts (1884 - 1962)
1. Off Algiers  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Off Algiers", appears in Rivers to the Sea, in Vignettes Overseas, no. 2, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. Naples  [sung text not yet checked]
Nisida and Prosida are laughing in the light, Capri is a dewy flower lifting into sight, Posilipo kneels and looks in the burnished sea, Naples crowds her million roofs close as close can be; Round about the mountain's crest a flag of smoke is hung-- Oh when God made Italy he was gay and young!
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Naples", appears in Rivers to the Sea, in Vignettes Overseas, no. 3, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]3. Capri  [sung text not yet checked]
When beauty grows too great to bear How shall I ease me of its ache, For beauty more than bitterness Makes the heart break. Now while I watch the dreaming sea With isles like flowers against her breast, Only one voice in all the world Could give me rest.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Capri", appears in Rivers to the Sea, in Vignettes Overseas, no. 4, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]4. Night Song at Amalfi  [sung text not yet checked]
I asked the heaven of stars What I should give my love -- It answered me with silence, Silence above. I asked the darkened sea Down where the fishers go -- It answered me with silence, Silence below. Oh, I could give him weeping, Or I could give him song -- But how can I give silence My whole life long?
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Night Song at Amalfi", appears in Rivers to the Sea, in Vignettes Overseas, no. 5, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. Ruins of Paestum  [sung text not yet checked]
On lowlands where the temples lie The marsh-grass mingles with the flowers, Only the little songs of birds Link the unbroken hours. So in the end, above my heart Once like the city wild and gay, The slow white stars will pass by night, The swift brown birds by day.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Ruins of Paestum", appears in Rivers to the Sea, in Vignettes Overseas, no. 6, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]6. Rome  [sung text not yet checked]
Oh for the rising moon Over the roofs of Rome, And swallows in the dusk Circling a darkened dome! Oh for the measured dawns That pass with folded wings-- How can I let them go With unremembered things?
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Rome", appears in Rivers to the Sea, in Vignettes Overseas, no. 7, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]7. Florence  [sung text not yet checked]
The bells ring over the Anno, Midnight, the long, long chime; Here in the quivering darkness I am afraid of time. Oh, gray bells cease your tolling, Time takes too much from me, And yet to rock and river He gives eternity.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Florence", appears in Rivers to the Sea, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]8. Villa Serbelloni, Bellaggio  [sung text not yet checked]
The fountain shivers lightly in the rain, The laurels drip, the fading roses fall, The marble satyr plays a mournful strain That leaves the rainy fragrance musical. Oh dripping laurel, Phoebus sacred tree, Would that swift Daphne's lot might come to me, Then would I still my soul and for an hour Change to a laurel in the glancing shower.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Villa Serbelloni, Bellaggio", appears in Rivers to the Sea, in Vignettes Overseas, no. 9, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]9. Stresa  [sung text not yet checked]
The moon grows out of the hills A yellow flower, The lake is a dreamy bride Who waits her hour. Beauty has filled my heart, It can hold no more, It is full, as the lake is full, From shore to shore.
Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Stresa", appears in Rivers to the Sea, in Vignettes Overseas, no. 10, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]