There are some birds in these valleys Who flutter round the careless With intimate appeal, By seeming kindness trained to snaring, They feel no falseness. Under the spell completely They circle can serenely, And in the tricky light The masked hill has a purer greenness. Their flight looks fleeter. But fowlers, O, like foxes, Lie ambushed in the rushes. Along the harmless tracks The madman keeper crawls through brushwood, Axe under oxter. Alas, the signal given, Fingers on the trigger tighten. The real unlucky dove Must smarting fall away from brightness Its love from living.
Three songs by W. H. Auden
Song Cycle by John Francis Rimmer (b. 1939)
?. The decoys  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by W. H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden (1907 - 1973), "The decoys", from The Oratorio: An English Study, first published 1932
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, 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 W.H. Auden Collected Poems, edited by Edward Mendelsson, New York: Random House, 1976, page 66
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
?. Invocation to Ariel
Sing, Ariel, sing . . . . . . . . . .— The rest of this text is not
currently in the database but will be
added as soon as we obtain it. —
Authorship:
- by W. H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden (1907 - 1973), no title, appears in For the Time Being, first published 1947
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Later given the title "Invocation to Ariel" in W. H. Auden: A Selection by the Author, 1958?. This lunar beauty  [sung text not yet checked]
This lunar beauty Has no history Is complete and early, If beauty later Bear any feature It had a lover And is another. This like a dream Keeps other time And daytime is The loss of this, For time is inches And the heart's changes Where ghost has haunted Lost and wanted. But this was never A ghost's endeavor Nor finished this, Was ghost at ease, And till it pass Love shall not near The sweetness here Nor sorrow take His endless look.
Authorship:
- by W. H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden (1907 - 1973), no title, appears in Poems, first published 1930
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Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, 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]