Come along in then, little girl! Or else stay out! But in the open door she stands, And bites her lip and twists her hands, And stares upon me, trouble-eyed: "Mother," she says, "I can't decide! I can't decide!"
From a Very Little Sphinx: Five Songs for Soprano or Mezzo-soprano
Song Cycle by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984)
1. I can't decide [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), no title, appears in Poems Selected for Young People, in From a Very Little Sphinx, no. 1, first published 1929
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. Thistles and roses [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
All the grown-up people say, "What, those ugly thistles? Mustn't touch them! Keep away! Prickly! Full of bristles!" Yet they never make me bleed Half so much as roses! Must be purple is a weed, and pink and white is posies.
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), no title, appears in Poems Selected for Young People, in From a Very Little Sphinx, no. 6, first published 1929
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]3. The horseshoe [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Wonder where this horseshoe went. Up and down, up and down, Up and past the monument, Maybe into town. Wait a minute. "Horseshoe, How far have you been?" Says it's been to Salem And halfway to Lynn. Wonder who was in the team. Wonder what they saw. Wonder if they passed a bridge -- Bridge with a draw. Says it went from one bridge Straight upon another. Says it took a little girl Driving with her mother.
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), no title, appears in Poems Selected for Young People, in From a Very Little Sphinx, no. 7, first published 1929
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]4. Ways to die [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
I know a hundred ways to die. I've often thought that I'd try one: Lie down beneath a motor truck Some day when standing by one. Or throw myself from off a bridge -- Except such things must be So hard upon the scavengers And men that clean the sea. I know some poison I could drink. I've often thought I'd taste it. But mother bought it for the sink, And drinking it would waste it.
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), no title, appears in Poems Selected for Young People, in From a Very Little Sphinx, no. 4, first published 1929
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. Look, Edwin [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Look, Edwin! Do you see that boy Talking to the other boy? No, over there by the two men -- Wait, don't look now -- now look again. No, not the one in navy-blue; That's the one he's talking to. Sure you see him? Stripèd pants? Well, he was born in Paris, France.
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), no title, appears in Poems Selected for Young People, in From a Very Little Sphinx, no. 5, first published 1929
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]Total word count: 282