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by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)

What art thou thinking of?
 (Sung text for setting by J. Ireland)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
"What art thou thinking of," said the mother.
"What art thou thinking of, my child?"
"I am thinking of heaven," he answered her,
And looked up in her face and smiled.

"And what didst thou think of heaven?" she said:
"Tell me, my little one."
"Oh I thought that there the flowers never fade,
That there never sets the sun."

"And wouldst thou love to go thither, my child,
Thither wouldst thou love to go,
And leave the pretty flowers that wither,
And the sun that sets below?"

"Oh I would be glad to go there, mother,
To go and live there now;
And I would pray for thy coming, mother;
My mother wouldst not thou? wouldst not thou?"

Composition:

    Set to music by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "What art thou thinking of?", 1924, published 1976 [ soprano or tenor and piano ]

Text Authorship:

  • by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), "Mother and Child", from Verses, first published 1847

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 119

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