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by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

The self‑unseeing
 (Sung text for setting by G. Finzi)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
Here is the ancient floor,
Footworn and hollowed and thin,
Here was the former door
Where the dead feet walked in.

She sat here in her chair,
Smiling into the fire;
He who played stood there,
Bowing it higher and higher.

Childlike, I danced in a dream;
Blessings emblazoned that day;
Everything glowed with a gleam;
Yet we were looking away!

Composition:

    Set to music by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "The self-unseeing", op. 16 no. 3, published 1949 [ baritone and piano ], from Before and After Summer, no. 3

Text Authorship:

  • by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The self-unseeing", appears in Poems of the Past and Present, first published 1902

See other settings of this text.


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: 61

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