To one who has been long in city pent | To one who has been long in city pent

by John Keats (1795 - 1821)

To one who has been long in city pent

Language: English

Our translations: ITA

To one who has been long in city pent,
 'Tis very sweet to look into the fair
 And open face of heaven, -- to breathe a prayer
Full in the smile of the blue firmament.
Who is more happy, when, with hearts content,
 Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair
 Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair
And gentle tale of love and languishment?
Returning home at evening, with an ear
 Catching the notes of Philomel, -- an eye
Watching the sailing cloudlet's bright career,
 He mourns that day so soon has glided by:
E'en like the passage of an angel's tear
 That falls through the clear ether silently.

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Text Authorship:

by John Keats (1795 - 1821), no title, appears in Poems, first published 1817 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Ronald A. Beckett , "To one who has been long in city pent", 2015, from To One who has been Long in City Pent. Four Poems by John Keats, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Fairfax Birch (b. 1917), "In the fields", published 1953 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "To one who has been long in city pent", published 1955 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Vivian Fine (1913 - 2000), "To one who has been long in city pent", 1976, first performed 1976 [ baritone and orchestra ], from Sonnets for Baritone and Orchestra, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Pearson (flourished 1954), "Angel thoughts", published 1954 [ SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Solomon Pimsleur (1900 - 1962), "Communion with Nature", 1927-8 [ alto, bass, and string quartet or strings ], from Sonnet-Tableau [sung text not yet checked]
by Alan Richardson , "Sonnet: To one who has been long in city pent", published 1939 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-02-13
Line count: 14
Word count: 107