by Elinor Wylie (1885 - 1928)

Now let no charitable hope
 (Sung text for setting by N. Rorem)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
Now let no charitable hope
Confuse my mind with images
Of eagle and of antelope:
I am in nature none of these.

I was, being human, born alone;
I am, being woman, hard beset;
I live by squeezing from a stone
The little nourishment I get.

In masks outrageous and austere
The years go by in single file;
But none has merited my fear,
And none has quite escaped my smile.

Composition:

    Set to music by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "Now let no charitable hope", published 1979 [ soprano and piano ], from Women's Voices, no. 1

Text Authorship:

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 71