by Robert Seymour Bridges (1844 - 1930)
Language: English
I heard a linnet courting
His lady in the spring;
His mates were idly sporting,
Nor stayed to hear him sing
His song of love. --
I fear my speech distorting
His tender love.
One phrase was all his pleading,
He spoke of love and home:
To her who gave him heeding
He sang his question: “Come!”
His gay, sweet notes, --
So sadly marred in the reading!
His tender notes!
And when he ceased, the hearer
Re-echoed the refrain,
And swiftly perching nearer,
“Come, come!” she sang again.
Ah for their loves!
Would that my verse spake clearer,
Their tender loves!
...
Composition:
- Set to music by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "The Linnet", published 1902, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], first published in the September 1902 edition of The Vocalist
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Seymour Bridges (1844 - 1930), no title, appears in The Shorter Poems of Robert Bridges, first published 1891
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Christopher Howell
This text was added to the website: 2020-10-11
Line count: 28
Word count: 131