O Queen of Beauty, who hast conquered kings, O woman wonderful, in pity be Most merciful to one who softly sings Thy matchless glory; yea, to one who brings His broken songs, sung but in praise of thee. I am the prisoner of thy two eyes! Roses nor lilies breathe a sweeter breath Than thou, when Dawn’s great minarets arise. Thy breath is like a breeze from Paradise, Yet languorous with the mystery of Death! The Pleiades, which thro’ the darkness blaze, From thy great orbs have filched their wondrous light. Only the stars, with their undying rays, Shall make a necklace like a golden haze To hang about thy throat, O woman white!
A Baghdad lover
Song Cycle by Blair Fairchild (1877 - 1933)
1. O Queen of Beauty [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hanson Towne (1877 - 1949), no title, appears in The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, in Songs out of the Orient, in 84. A Baghdad Lover (Being Certain Fragments from Scheherazade’s Songs in “The Thousand and One Nights”), no. 1
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Charles Hanson Towne, The Quiet Singer And Other Poems, New York, B. W. Dodge & Company, 1908, page 109.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
2. To Kiss Her! [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
To kiss her! 'Tis with musk-perfume to grow Drunken with joy -- delirium to know! To feel her body bend 'neath my embrace, See the carved marble of her lily face! To kiss her! I am drunk who have no wine -- Wild ecstasy, wild ecstasy divine! Dizzy at eve, at sundown my heart sips The perfumed nectar of her lips, her lips!
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hanson Towne (1877 - 1949), no title, appears in The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, in Songs out of the Orient, in 84. A Baghdad Lover (Being Certain Fragments from Scheherazade’s Songs in “The Thousand and One Nights”), no. 2
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Charles Hanson Towne, The Quiet Singer And Other Poems, New York, B. W. Dodge & Company, 1908, page 110.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
3. The Praises of Her Beauty [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
The praises of her beauty I shall sing, Yea, though her beauty be my suffering! Lo! one to me hath come and softly said, "O thou who with Love's sorrowing hast bled, "Rise! Here is Life's great music, Life's guitar, Luring thy soul to some exquisite star!" And I have said, "How can my poor heart sing, Since I have left Love's sharp and ceaseless sting?"
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hanson Towne (1877 - 1949), no title, appears in The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, in Songs out of the Orient, in 84. A Baghdad Lover (Being Certain Fragments from Scheherazade’s Songs in “The Thousand and One Nights”), no. 3
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Charles Hanson Towne, The Quiet Singer And Other Poems, New York, B. W. Dodge & Company, 1908, page 111.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
4. If One Should Ask [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
If one should ask of me, when all afire My ravished heart might be, "What is thy wish, thine utmost dear desire -- One draught from some cool spring to drain, or her white face to see?" -- I should make answer, though I fainted sore, Tho' my pale lips were dry, "Let me behold her, ere I pass the Door; Let me drink of her pool-deep eyes -- drink love, drink love -- and die!"
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hanson Towne (1877 - 1949), no title, appears in The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, in Songs out of the Orient, in 84. A Baghdad Lover (Being Certain Fragments from Scheherazade’s Songs in “The Thousand and One Nights”), no. 4
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Charles Hanson Towne, The Quiet Singer And Other Poems, New York, B. W. Dodge & Company, 1908, page 112.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
5. So Much I Love [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
So much I love, that I Faint with the joy I know; Yea, for that love is pierced With the great thorn of woe! So much I love, that I Envy the cup she sips, When over-long it rests On her soft, crimson lips!
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hanson Towne (1877 - 1949), no title, appears in The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, in Songs out of the Orient, in 84. A Baghdad Lover (Being Certain Fragments from Scheherazade’s Songs in “The Thousand and One Nights”), no. 5
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Charles Hanson Towne, The Quiet Singer And Other Poems, New York, B. W. Dodge & Company, 1908, page 113.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
6. What Morn Shall I Find Thee? [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
What morn shall find thee, O departed one, Under the fragrant dew? Thou hast appeared, O gentle-hearted one, Back to my famished view. Clad in white vestments, thou who hast been banished Out of this lonely place, I saw thee once at dusk … Now thou hast vanished, And left, alas! no trace!
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hanson Towne (1877 - 1949), no title, appears in The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, in Songs out of the Orient, in 84. A Baghdad Lover (Being Certain Fragments from Scheherazade’s Songs in “The Thousand and One Nights”), no. 6
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Charles Hanson Towne, The Quiet Singer And Other Poems, New York, B. W. Dodge & Company, 1908, page 114.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
7. The Myrtles of Damascus [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
The myrtles of Damascus, when they smile, Exalt my soul to some remote, high place — But O thy face!1 Roses of Baghdad, bathed in moonlight dew, Make my heart drunk when all their joy it sips — But O thy lips!1
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hanson Towne (1877 - 1949), no title, appears in The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, in Songs out of the Orient, in 84. A Baghdad Lover (Being Certain Fragments from Scheherazade’s Songs in “The Thousand and One Nights”), no. 7, New York, B. W. Dodge & Company, first published 1908
See other settings of this text.
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Charles Hanson Towne, The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, B. W. Dodge & Company, New York 1908, Page 115.
1 Woodforde-Finden adds "O my love!"Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
8. Serenade [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
O form to which the palms have lent their grace, And all the jasmines given their perfume, What lovelier form goes wandering thro' earth's room? O eyes to which the diamond lends its light, And night its radiant stars, What woman's eyes give forth a fire more bright? O kiss more sweet than honey from her mouth, What woman's kiss is fresher than the South? O to caress thy hair! to feel my heart Thrill against thine! … Then to gaze in thine eyes, And see the stars arise!
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hanson Towne (1877 - 1949), no title, appears in The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, in Songs out of the Orient, in 84. A Baghdad Lover (Being Certain Fragments from Scheherazade’s Songs in “The Thousand and One Nights”), no. 8
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Charles Hanson Towne, The Quiet Singer And Other Poems, New York, B. W. Dodge & Company, 1908, page 116.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
9. O Tomb! [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
O tomb! within thy shadows can it be My dear beloved hides away from me? O tomb, by Allah, tell me, lest I die, Is all her beauty vanished utterly? Have her vast charms been blotted out? -- her white And pallid brow been lost in thy deep night? Surely, O tomb! no bit of heaven is thine, Who foldest close that wondrous love of mine. Yet in thy depths, thy darkened depths, O tomb, I see the stars shine and white lilies bloom!
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hanson Towne (1877 - 1949), no title, appears in The Quiet Singer and Other Poems, in Songs out of the Orient, in 84. A Baghdad Lover (Being Certain Fragments from Scheherazade’s Songs in “The Thousand and One Nights”), no. 9
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Charles Hanson Towne, The Quiet Singer And Other Poems, New York, B. W. Dodge & Company, 1908, page 117.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 626