No one worth possessing Can be quite possessed; Lay that on your heart, My young angry dear; This truth, this hard and precious stone, Lay it on your hot cheek, Let it hide your tear. Hold it like a crystal When you are alone And gaze in the depths of the icy stone. Long, look long and you will be blessed: No one worth possessing Can be quite possessed.
Six Teasdale Songs
Song Cycle by Jeanne Behrend (1911 - 1988)
?. Advice to a Girl  [sung text not yet checked]
Text Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Advice to a Girl", appears in Strange Victory, first published 1933
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Einem Mädchen zum Rat", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
?. Late October  [sung text not yet checked]
Listen, the damp leaves on the walks are blowing With a ghost of sound; Is it a fog or is it a rain dripping From the low trees to the ground? If I had gone before, I could have remembered Lilacs and green after-noons of May; I chose to wait, I chose to hear from autumn Whatever she has to say.
Text Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Late October (Bois de Boulogne)", appears in Dark of the Moon, in Pictures of Autumn, first published 1926
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Octobre tardif (Bois de Boulogne)", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Sara Teasdale, Dark of The Moon, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1926, page 28.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
?. Debt  [sung text not yet checked]
What do I owe to you Who loved me deep and long? You never gave my spirit wings Or gave my heart a song. But oh, to him I loved Who loved me not at all, I owe the little open gate That led thru heaven's wall.
Text Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Debt", appears in Rivers to the Sea, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]?. Faults  [sung text not yet checked]
They came to tell your faults to me, They named them over one by one; I laughed aloud when they were done, I knew them all so well before, -- Oh, they were blind, too blind to see Your faults had made me love you more.
Text Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Faults", appears in Love Songs, first published 1917
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Fautes", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Sara Teasdale, Love Songs, New York, The Macmillan Company, 1917, page 20.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
?. The look  [sung text not yet checked]
Strephon kissed me in the spring, Robin in the fall, But Colin only looked at me And never kissed at all. Strephon's kiss was lost in jest, Robin's lost in play, But the kiss in Colin's eyes Haunts me night and day.
Text Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "The look", appears in Rivers to the Sea, first published 1915
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]?. I shall not care  [sung text not yet checked]
When I am dead and over me bright April Shakes out her rain-drenched hair, Tho' you should lean above me broken-hearted, I shall not care. I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful When rain bends down the bough, And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted Than you are now.
Text Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "I shall not care", appears in Rivers to the Sea, first published 1915
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]