by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)
To a Lady playing the Harp
Language: English
Thy tones are silver melted into sound, And as I dream I see no walls around, But seem to hear A gondolier Sing sweetly down some slow Venetian stream. Italian skies—that I have never seen— I see above. (Ah, play again, my queen; Thy fingers white Fly swift and light And weave for me the golden mesh of love.) Oh, thou dusk sorceress of the dusky eyes And soft dark hair, 'T is thou that mak'st my skies So swift to change To far and strange: But far and strange, thou still dost make them fair. Now thou dost sing, and I am lost in thee As one who drowns In floods of melody. Still in thy art Give me this part, Till perfect love, the love of loving crowns.
Confirmed with The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1913.
Authorship:
- by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "To a Lady Playing the Harp" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "To a Lady playing the Harp", op. 349 no. 1 (2022) [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder nach Paul Laurence Dunbar, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2024-02-01
Line count: 24
Word count: 130