by Edward Shanks (1892 - 1953)
The singer
Language: English
In the dim light of the golden lamp The singer stands and sings. And the songs rise up like coloured bubbles Or birds with shining wings. And the movement of the merry or plaintive keys Sounds in the silent air Till the listener feels the room no more But only music there. But still from the sweet and rounded mouth The delicate sounds arise Like floating bubbles whose colours are The coloured melodies.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Shanks (1892 - 1953), "The singer", appears in The Queen of China and Other Poems, first published 1919 [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 Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "The singer", 1919, published 1938 [ voice and piano ], from A First Volume of Ten Songs, no. 1, London: Oxford University Press [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "The Singer", op. 355 (1952) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "The singer", 1922, published 1925 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 73