by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900)
Exile
Language: English
By the sad waters of separation Where we have wandered by divers ways, I have but the shadow and imitation Of the old, memorial days. In music I have no consolation, No roses are pale enough for me; The sound of the waters of separation Surpasseth roses and melody. By the sad waters of separation Dimly I hear from an hidden place The sigh of mine ancient adoration: Hardly can I remember your face. If you be dead, no proclamation Sprang to me over the waste, gray sea: Living, the waters of separation Sever for ever your soul from me. No man knoweth our desolation; Memory pales of the old delight; While the sad waters of separation Bear us on to the ultimate night.
View text with all available footnotes
Research team for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
Confirmed with Ernest Dowson, Verses, London: Leonard Smithers, 1896, page 21. Dedicated to Conal Holmes O'Connell O'Riordan
Text Authorship:
- by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900), "Exile", appears in Verses, London, Leonard Smithers, first published 1896 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "Exile", 1906-7, published 1911 [ baritone, chorus, and orchestra ], from Songs of Sunset, no. 5, Leipzig : Luckhardt & Belder [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Grigory Smirnov (b. 1985), "Exile", 2013, published 2013, first performed 2014 [ tenor and piano ], from Dowson Songs, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
Research team for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-23
Line count: 20
Word count: 125