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by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)

Aloof
Language: English 
The irresponsive silence of the land,
The irresponsive sounding of the sea,
Speak both one message of one sense to me:--
Aloof, aloof, we stand aloof, so stand
Thou too aloof, bound with the flawless band
Of inner solitude; we bind not thee;
But who from thy self-chain shall set thee free?
What heart shall touch thy heart? What hand thy hand?
And I am sometimes proud and sometimes meek,
And sometimes I remember days of old
When fellowship seem'd not so far to seek,
And all the world and I seem'd much less cold,
And at the rainbow's foot lay surely gold,
And hope felt strong, and life itself not weak.

Text Authorship:

  • by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894) [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 Vivian Fine (1913 - 2000), "Aloof", 1991 [voice and piano], from 4 Victorian Songs, no. 1. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]
  • by Vivian Fine (1913 - 2000), "Aloof", 1988, first performed 1988 [soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello], from 5 Victorian Songs, no. 1. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2014-08-21
Line count: 14
Word count: 112

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