At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in the green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Boris Blacher (1903 - 1975), "At the sight of blackbirds", 1957 [ voice and string quartet ], from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 10, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lukas Foss (b. 1922), "At the sight of blackbirds", 1978, copyright © 1980 [ soprano, piano, flute, 2 tapes, and percussion ], from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 10, New York, Pembroke [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912 - 1990), "At the sight of blackbirds", 1947, published 1951, from 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louise Juliette Talma (1906 - 1996), "At the sight of blackbirds", 1979 [ tenor or soprano, oboe, flute or violin, and piano ], from 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 19
Beim Anblick der Amseln,
die im grünen Lichte fliegen,
würden selbst die Kupplerinnen des Wohlklangs
schneidend kreischen.