Nor skin nor hide nor fleece Shall cover you, Nor curtain of crimson nor fine Shelter of cedar-wood be over you, Nor the fir-tree Nor the pine. Nor sight of whin nor gorse Nor river-yew, Nor fragrance of flowering bush, Nor wailing of reed-bird to waken you, Nor of linnet, Nor of thrush. Nor word nor touch nor sight Of lover, you Shall long through the night but for this: The roll of the full tide to cover you Without question, Without kiss.
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Text Authorship:
- by Hilda Doolittle (1886 - 1961) [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 Scott Wheeler (b. 1952), "Lethe", 2007, first performed 2008 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Turning Back, no. 3, Scott Wheeler Music [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Eric Saroian
This text was added to the website: 2022-05-17
Line count: 18
Word count: 83