by Alice Christina Meynell (1847 - 1922)
I must not think of thee; and, tired yet...
Language: English
I must not think of thee; and, tired yet strong, I shun the love that lurks in all delight -- The love of thee -- and in the blue heaven's height, And in the dearest passage of a song. Oh, just beyond the sweetest thoughts that throng This breast, the thought of thee waits hidden yet bright; But it must never, never come in sight; I must stop short of thee the whole day long. But when sleep comes to close each difficult day, When night gives pause to the long watch I keep, And all my bonds I needs must loose apart, Must doff my will as raiment laid away, -- With the first dream that comes with the first sleep I run, I run, I am gather'd to thy heart.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir. The Oxford Book of English Verse, Oxford, Clarendon, 1919, [c1901]; Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/101/879.html.
Text Authorship:
- by Alice Christina Meynell (1847 - 1922), "Renouncement", appears in Poems, first published 1893 [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 Vladimir Agopov (b. 1953), "Renouncement", op. 11 no. 3 (1986) [ voice, flute, and accordion ], from Four Songs to the Words by Alice Meynell, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "Renouncement", 1976, published 1977 [ soprano or tenor and instrumental ensemble ], from Four Poems by Alice Meynell, no. 2, New York, Carl Fischer [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Renouncement", 1964 [ soprano and piano ], Southern/Texas [sung text not yet checked]
- by Herbert Elwell (1898 - 1974), "Renouncement", published <<1940 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Muriel Emily Herbert (1897 - 1984), "Renouncement", 1923, published 1923 [ voice and piano ], London : Augener confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hermann Frederic Löhr (1872 - 1943), "Renouncement", published 1917 [ voice and piano ], from Two sonnets [sung text not yet checked]
- by Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "Renouncement" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bryceson Treharne (1879 - 1948), "Renouncement", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "Renunciation" [ voice and piano ], from Eternal Summer, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 129