by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)

Language: English 
I pant for the music which is divine,
My heart in its thirst is a dying flower;
Pour forth the sound like enchanted wine,
Loosen the notes in a silver shower;
Like a herbless plain for the gentle rain,
I gasp, I faint, till they wake again.

Let me drink of the spirit of that sweet sound,
More, O more! I am thirsting yet,
It loosens the serpent which care has bound
Upon my heart, to stifle it:
The dissolving strain, through every vein,
Passes into my heart and brain.

 ...

Composition:

    Set to music by Michael Tippett (1905 - 1998), "Music", first performed 1960, stanzas 1-2, note: written for the jubilee of the East Sussex and West Kent Choral Festival.

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Hudba", Prague, J. Otto, first published 1901


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 22
Word count: 172