by Edwin Evans (1844 - 1923?)
Heart of the kalyan
Language: English
Nightfall found us still seated on the terrace. Long had we not spoken, nor had I tended the kalyan that stood between us, for my thoughts had wandered into the kingdom of my desire. "Thinkest thou thy heart is dead because it mourns a lover? See. The kalyan glows no longer. Its coverlet of pearl grey ash is like unto a shroud. And yet... Put but forth thy hand and its heart will whisper of its warmth. Now I have breathed upon the kalyan, and a crimson fire gleams upon thy cheek. So thy heart lurks shrouded in the ashes of the love that passed. Speak. Shalline be the breath to rekindle its glow?" And at moonrise her drooping head had found its pillow upon my breast.
A kalyan is a portable brasier of charcoal
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
Authorship:
- by Edwin Evans (1844 - 1923?) [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 (Aynsley) Eugene Goossens, Sir (1893 - 1962), "Heart of the kalyan", op. 17b no. 2 (1916), published 1918, first performed 1918 [ voice and piano ], from Persian Idylls, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2023-02-17
Line count: 15
Word count: 127