Charivaria

Song Cycle by (Edward) Maurice Besly (1888 - 1945)

?. Afternoon on a hill  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun,
I will touch a hundred flowers
And [not pick one.]1

I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.

And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine
And then start down.

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1 Grier: "pick not one."

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

?. To the Not Impossible Him  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
How shall I know, unless I go
To Cairo and Cathay,
Whether or not this blessed spot
Is blest in every way?

Now it may be, the flower for me
Is this beneath my nose:
How shall I tell, unless I smell
The Carthaginian rose?

The fabric of my faithful love
No power shall dim or ravel
Whilst I stay here, -- but oh, my dear,
If I should ever travel!

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?. Epitaph  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Heap not on this mound
  Roses that she loved so well;
Why bewilder her with roses,
  That she cannot see or smell ?
She is happy where she lies
With the dust upon her eyes.

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?. My candle burns at both ends  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
My candle burns at both ends;
    It will not last the night; 
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends --
    It gives a lovely light!

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 190