by Edith Nesbit (1858 - 1924)
Slave song
Language: English
Bright bird, light bird, Bird with the purple wing, Do you bring me a letter Or do you bring me a ring? Or only a note out of some old song My mother used to sing? Sweet bird, fleet bird, Flying from far away, Do you come from the dear old home Over the mountain grey? And did you tell them before you came, That you would see me today? Blue bird, true bird, Tell them my heart is fain To cross the plain and the mountain, And live in their heart again! But I am a slave in a far-off land, And I long, I long in vain!
Text Authorship:
- by Edith Nesbit (1858 - 1924) [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 Teresa del Riego (c1876 - 1968), "Slave song", published 1899 [ voice and piano ], London : Chappell & Co. [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 109