Into the scented woods we'll go And see the blackthorn swim in snow. High above, in the budding leaves, A brooding dove awakes and grieves; The glades with mingled music stir, And wildly laughs the woodpecker. When blackthorn petals pearl the breeze, There are the twisted hawthorn trees Thickset with buds, as clear and pale As golden water or green hail - As if a storm of rain had stood Enchanted in the thorny wood, And, hearing fairy voices call, Hung poised, forgetting how to fall.
Five Songs
Song Cycle by Michael (Dewar) Head (1900 - 1976)
1. Green rain  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by Mary Gladys Meredith Webb (1881 - 1927), "Green rain", appears in Poems and The Spring of Joy, first published 1928
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. The King of China's daughter  [sung text not yet checked]
The King of China's Daughter, She never would love me, Though I hung my cap and bells upon Her nutmeg tree. For oranges and lemons, The stars in bright blue air (I stole them long ago, my dear) Were dangling there. The Moon did give me silver pence, The Sun did give me gold, And both together softly blew And made my porridge cold; But the King of China's daughter Pretended not to see When I hung my cap and bells upon The nutmeg tree. The King of China's daughter So beautiful to see With her face like yellow water, left Her nutmeg tree. Her little rope for skipping She kissed and gave it me -- Made of painted notes of singing-birds Among the fields of tea. I skipped across the nutmeg grove, -- I skipped across the sea; But neither sun nor moon, my dear, Has yet caught me.
Authorship:
- by Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), "The King of China's Daughter"
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]3. Fallen veils  [sung text not yet checked]
I have been here before, But when or how I cannot tell: I know the grass beyond the door, The sweet keen smell, The sighing sound, the lights around the shore. You have been mine before, -- How long ago I may not know: But just when at that swallow's soar Your neck turned so, Some veil did fall, -- I knew it all of yore. Has this been thus before? And shall not thus time's eddying flight Still with our lives our love restore In death's despite, And day and night yield one delight once more?
Authorship:
- by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 - 1882), "Sudden light", written 1853/4, from Poems. A New Edition, first published 1881
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Note: first published in 1863, revised in 1870 and 1881. In the 1870 version of the poem (from Poems: an Offering to Lancashire), the final stanza was as follows:Then, now, -- perchance again! . . . . O round mine eyes your tresses shake! Shall we not lie as we have lain Thus for Love's sake, And sleep, and wake, yet never break the chain?
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
4. The singer  [sung text checked 1 time]
I met a singer on the hill, He wore a tattered cloak; His cap was torn, His shoes were worn, And dreamily he spoke. Fa la la la la la ... Fa la la la la la. A wrinkled face, a cheery smile, And a nobby stick had he; His eyes were grey and far away And changeful as the sea. I offered him a piece of gold And hoped that he would stay. No word he spoke, but shook his head And smiled and went his way. Fa la la la la la ... La la la la la la. I watched the singer down the hill. My eyes went following after, I thought I heard a fairy flute And the sound of fairy laughter, Fa la la la la la... etc.
Authorship:
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. The blunder
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Authorship:
- by Joyce Maxtone Graham (1901 - 1953), as Jan Struther, copyright ©
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