Ann, Ann! Come! quick as you can! There's a fish that talks In the frying pan! Out of the fat, As clear as glass, He put up his mouth And moaned "Alas!" Oh, most mournful, "Alas, alack!" Then turned to his sizzling And sank him back.
Three Poems of Walter de la Mare
Song Cycle by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)
1. Alas, alack!
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Alas, alack!", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 1. Up and Down, no. 5, first published 1913
See other settings of this text.
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. The song of shadows
Language: English
Sweep thy faint strings, Musician,
With thy long, lean hand;
Downward the starry tapers burn,
Sinks soft the waning sand;
The old hound whimpers couched in sleep,
The embers smoulder low;
Across the wall the shadows
Come, and go.
Sweep softly thy strings, Musician,
The minutes mount to hours;
Frost on the windless casement weaves
A labyrinth of flowers;
Ghosts linger in the darkening air,
Hearken at the opening door;
Music hath called them, dreaming,
Home once more.
Text Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "The song of shadows", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 8. Songs, no. 7, first published 1913
See other settings of this text.
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.
Confirmed with Peacock Pie. A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., [1920], p. 176.Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
3. Silver
Language: English
Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
...
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.
Text Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Silver", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 7. Earth and Air, no. 4, first published 1913
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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]Total word count: 203