I used to wonder About living and dying -- I think the difference lies Between tears and crying. I used to wonder About here and there -- I think the distance Is nowhere.
Border Line
Song Cycle by Robert Owens (1925 - 2017)
1. Border line
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Border line", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 1, first published 1947
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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]2. Night: Four Songs
Language: English
Night of the two moons And the seventeen stars, Night of the day before yesterday And the day after tomorrow, Night of the four songs unsung: Sorrow! Sorrow! Sorrow! Sorrow!
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Night: Four Songs", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 2, first published 1947
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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]3. Dustbowl
Language: English
The land Wants me to come back To a handful of dust in autumn, To a raindrop In the palm of my hand In spring. The land Wants me to come back To a broken song in October, To a snowbird on the wing. The land Wants me To come back.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Dustbowl", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 3
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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]4. Burden
Language: English
It is not weariness That bows me down, But sudden nearness To song without sound.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Burden", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 4
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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.
First published in Carmel Pine Cone, Nov. 14, 1941Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
5. One
Language: English
Lonely As the wind On the Lincoln Prairies. Lonely As a bottle of likker On a table All by itself.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "One", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 5
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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]6. Beale Street
Language: English
The dream is vague And all confused With dice and women And jazz and booze. The dream is vague, Without a name, Yet warm and wavering And sharp as flame. The loss Of the dream Leaves nothing The same.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Beale Street", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 6
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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]7. Gifts
Language: English
To some people Love is given. To others -- Only heaven.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Gifts", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 7
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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]8. Circles
Language: English
The circles spin round And the circles spin round And meet their own tail. Seasons come, seasons go, The years build their bars Till we're in jail. Like a squirrel in a cage -- For the jail is round -- We sometimes find Ourselves upside down.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Circles", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 8
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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]9. Grave yard
Language: English
Here is that sleeping place, Long resting place, No stretching place, That never-get-up-no-more Place Is here.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Grave yard", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 9
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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]10. Convent
Language: English
Tell me, Is there peace Behind your high stone walls -- Peace Where no worldly duty calls -- Or does some strange Insistence beckon With a challenge That appalls?
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Convent", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 10
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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]11. Poppy flower
Language: English
A wild poppy-flower Withered and died. The day-people laughed -- But the night-people cried. A wild poppy-flower Withered and died.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Poppy flower", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 11
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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.
First published in Crisis, February 1925Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
12. Gypsy melodies
Language: English
Songs that break And scatter Out of the moon: Rockets of joy Dimmed too soon.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Gypsy melodies", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 12
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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]13. Montmartre
Language: English
Pigalle: A neon rose In a champagne bottle. At dawn The petals Fall.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Montmartre", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 13
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Paridam von dem Knesebeck) (Eva Hesse) , "Montmartre", appears in Mein dunklen Hände. Moderne Negerlyrik in Original und Nachdichtung, copyright ©
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]14. Fragments
Language: English
Whispers Of springtime. Death in the night. A song With too many Tunes.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Fragments", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 14
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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]15. Desert
Language: English
Anybody Better than Nobody. In the barren dusk Even the snake That spirals Terror on the sand -- Better than nobody In this lonely Land.
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "Desert", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 15, first published 1947
See other settings of this text.
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.
Note: Owens moves a period in the first four lines as follows: "Anybody/
Better than/ Nobody/ In the barren dusk."
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
16. The end
Language: English
There are No clocks on the wall, And no time, No shadows that move From dawn to dusk Across the floor. There is neither light Nor dark Outside the door. There is no door!
Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "End", appears in Fields of Wonder, in Border Line, no. 16
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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]Total word count: 402