by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)
Because I had loved so deeply
Language: English
Because I had loved so deeply, Because I had loved so long, God in His great compassion Gave me the gift of song. Because I have loved so vainly, And sung with such faltering [breath]1, The Master in infinite mercy Offers the boon of Death.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company.
1 Price: "trill"Text Authorship:
- by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "Compensation", appears in Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow, first published 1905 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Compensation", 2009 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Carson P. Cooman , "Compensation", op. 126 no. 1 (1999), from Three Dunbar Verses, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Di Domenica (b. 1927), "Compensation", published 1976? [ baritone, piano, and tape ], from Black Poems [sung text not yet checked]
- by Betty Jackson King (1928 - 1994), "Compensation" [ voice and piano ], from A Set of Three Dunbar, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Lloyd, jr. , "Compensation" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Florence Beatrice Price (1887 - 1953), "Because" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Simon Sargon (b. 1938), "Compensation", 1965 [ soprano and piano ], from Jump Back, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork (b. 1941), "Ode to Ethiopia / Compensation", 1994 [ soprano and tenor, orchestra ], from Common Ground: An Operatic Songfest, no. 1
- by Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork (b. 1941), "Ode to Ethiopia / Compensation", 1994, from Common Ground: An Operatic Songfest, no. 11
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-26
Line count: 8
Word count: 47