by Richard Harris Barham (1788 - 1845), as Thomas Ingoldsby
There sits a bird on yonder tree
Language: English
There sits a bird on yonder tree, More fond than Cushat dove; There sits a bird on yonder tree, And sings to me of love. Oh stoop thee from thine eyrie down, And nestle thee near my heart, For the moments fly and the hour is nigh, When thou and I must part, My love! when thou and I must part. In yonder covert lurks a fawn, The pride of sylvan scene: In yonder covert lurks a fawn, And I am his only queen: Oh! bound from thy secret lair, For the sun is below the west: For the sun is below the west: For all are closed in rest, My love! each eye is closed in rest. Oh! sweet is the breath of morn, When the sun's first beams appear; Oh! sweet is the shepherd's strain, When it dies on the list'ning ear. Oh! sweet the soft voice that speaks The wanderer's welcome home; But sweeter far by yon pale mild star, With our true love thus to roam, My dear! with our own true love to roam.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Richard Harris Barham (1788 - 1845), as Thomas Ingoldsby [author's text not yet checked 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 Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "There sits a bird on yonder tree", 1893 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "More fond than Cushat dove", op. 12 no. 2 (c1873), published 1873 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 27
Word count: 179