by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
At the Piano
Language: English
A woman was playing, A man looking on; And the mould of her face, And her neck and her hair, Which the rays fell upon Of the two candles there, Sent him mentally straying In some fancy-place Where pain had no trace. A cowled apparition Came pushing between; And her notes seemed to sigh; And the lights to burn pale, As a spell numbed the scene. But the maid saw no bale, And the man no monition And Time laughed awry, And the Phantom hid nigh.
View text with all available footnotes
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928) [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 Joelle Wallach (b. 1946), "At the Piano", from Mourning Madrigals, no. 3. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 88