by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)
Young Love lies sleeping
Language: English
Young Love lies sleeping In May-time of the year, Among the lilies, Lapped in [the]1 tender light: White lambs come grazing, White doves come building there; And round about him The May-bushes are white. Soft moss the pillow For oh, a softer cheek; Broad leaves cast shadow Upon the heavy eyes: There winds and waters Grow lulled and scarcely speak; There twilight lingers The longest in the skies. Young Love lies dreaming; But who [shall]2 tell the dream? A perfect sunlight On rustling forest tips; Or perfect moonlight Upon a rippling stream; Or perfect silence, Or [song]3 of cherished lips. Burn odours round him To fill the drowsy air; Weave silent dances Around him to and fro; For oh, in waking The sights are not so fair, And song and silence Are not like these below. Young Love lies dreaming Till summer days are gone,- Dreaming and drowsing Away to perfect sleep: He sees the beauty Sun hath not looked upon, And tastes the fountain Unutterably deep. Him perfect music Doth hush unto his rest, And thro' the pauses The perfect silence calms: Oh poor the voices Of earth from east to west, And poor earth's stillness Between her stately palms. Young Love lies drowsing Away to poppied death; Cool shadows deepen Across the sleeping face: So fails the summer With warm, delicious breath; And what hath autumn To give us in its place? Draw close the curtains Of branched evergreen; Change cannot touch them With fading fingers sere: Here the first violets Perhaps will bud unseen, And a dove, may be, Return to nestle here.
A. Somervell sets stanzas 1, 3, 8
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 omitted by Somervell.
2 Somervell: "can"
3 Somervell: "songs"
Somervell's setting ends with the following repetition of earlier lines:
Young Love lies sleeping, And round about him The May bushes are white.
Authorship:
- by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 - 1894), "Dream-Love", appears in A Welcome: Original contributions in poetry and prose, first published 1863 [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 Jean Coulthard (1908 - 2000), "Dream love" [ voice and piano ], from Christina Songs, no. 2, stanzas 1-3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Percy Eastman Fletcher (1879 - 1932), "Dream-Love", published 1921 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Young Love lies sleeping", published 1901, stanzas 1,3,8 [ voice and piano ], from Love in Spring-Time, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-07-12
Line count: 64
Word count: 266