by Thomas Hood (1799 - 1845)
O Lady, leave thy silken thread
Language: English
O Lady, leave [thy]1 silken thread And flowery tapestrie: There's living roses on the bush, And blossoms on the tree; Stoop where thou wilt, thy careless hand Some random bud will meet; Thou canst not tread, but thou wilt find The daisy at thy feet. 'Tis like the birthday of the world, When earth was born in bloom; The light is made of many dyes, The air is all perfume; There's crimson buds, and white and blue -- The very rainbow showers Have turn'd to blossoms where they fell, And sown the earth with flowers. There's fairy tulips in the east, The garden of the sun; The very streams reflect the hues, And blossom as they run: While Morn opes like a crimson rose, Still wet with pearly showers; Then, lady, leave the silken thread Thou twinest into flowers!
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Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Hood (1799 - 1845), "Song", first published 1846 [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 Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "The silken thread", published 1899 [SATB chorus a cappella], Glasgow, Bayley & Ferguson [text not verified]
- by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864 - 1942), "Song", op. 4 no. 6, published 1905 [voice and piano], from A Book of Songs, no. 6. [text not verified]
- by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "O Lady, leave that silken thread", H. 4 no. 2 (1895). [SSATBB chorus a cappella] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-09-15
Line count: 24
Word count: 138