by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

Language: English 
Lovers, forget your love,
And list to the love of these,
She a window flower,
And he a winter breeze.

When the frosty window veil
Was melted down at noon,
And the caged yellow bird
Hung over her in tune,

He marked her through the pane,
He could not help but mark,
And only passed her by,
To come again at dark.

He was a winter wind,
Concerned with ice and snow,
Dead weeds and unmated birds,
And little of love could know.

But he sighed upon the sill,
He gave the sash a shake,
As witness all within
Who lay that night awake.

Perchance he half prevailed
To win her for the flight
From the firelit looking-glass
And warm stove-window light.

But the flower leaned aside
And thought of naught to say,
And morning found the breeze
A hundred miles away.

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Composition:

    Set to music by Andrea Clearfield (b. 1960), "Wind and window flower", subtitle: "Out of the winter things he fashions a story of modern love", first performed 2013 [ mezzo-soprano, baritone, and piano ], from The Drift of Things; Winter Songs, no. 4, Self-published, Angelfire Press ; in Part II, "For Love is a Thing of Changes"

Text Authorship:

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2017-11-12
Line count: 28
Word count: 142