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by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933)

The hour
 (Sung text for setting by L. Laitman)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
Was it foreknown, was it foredoomed
Before I drew my first small breath?
Will it be with me to the end,
Will it go down with me to death?
Or was it chance,
would it have been
Another if it was not you?
Could any other voice or hands
have done for me what yours can do?
Now without sorrow and without elation
I say the day I found you was foreknown,
Let the years blow like sand around that hour,
Changeless and fixed as Memnon carved in stone.

Composition:

    Set to music by Lori Laitman (b. 1955), "The hour", 1991-2, first performed 1992 [ soprano and piano ], from The Metropolitan Tower and Other Songs, no. 5

Text Authorship:

  • by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "The hour", first published 1922?

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-05-31
Line count: 13
Word count: 89

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