Mary that was the Child's mother Met me in the frostbound wood: Her face was lovely and careladen Under her white hood. She who once was Heaven's chosen Moved in loneliness to me, With a slow grace and weary beauty Pitiful to see. Bethlehem could hear sweet singing, "Peace on earth, a Savior's come." Here the trees were drank, the Heavens Without stars, and dumb. Past she went with no word spoken, Past the grave of Him I slew, Myself the sower of the woodland And my heart the yew.1
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View original text (without footnotes)1 A yew symbolizes both death and immortality, being poisonous as well as long-lived.
Authorship:
- by Bruce Blunt (1899 - 1957) [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 Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "The Frostbound Wood", 1929, published 1929 [ voice and piano ], first published in Radio Times, reissued 1931 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Adam Russell
This text was added to the website: 2007-07-08
Line count: 16
Word count: 90