I

The houses on a seesaw rush
In the giddy sun's hard spectrum, push

The noisy heat's machinery;
Like flags of colored heat they fly.

The wooden ripples of the smiles
Suck down the houses, then at whiles,

Grown suctioned like an octopus,
They throw them up against us,

As we rush by on coloured bars
Of sense, vibrating flower-hued stars,

With lips like velvet drinks and winds
That bring strange Peris to our minds.

II

Seas are roaring like a lion; with their
Wavy flocks Zion,
Noses like a scimitar,
Hair a brassy bar
Come
to
The sun's drum. Though
Light green water's swim their
daughters, lashing
with their eel-sleek-locks
The furred
Heads
Of mermaids that occurred,
Sinking to the cheap beds.
Blurred
Legs, like trunks of tropical
Plants, rise up and, over all.
Green as a conservatory
Is the light..........another story..........
It has grown too late for life!
Put on your gloves and take a drive!

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

First published in Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany, June 1920, revised same year

Text Authorship:

• by Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), "Bank Holiday", appears in Façade, first published 1922 [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 William Walton (1902 - 1983), "Bank Holiday", first performed 1922 [ reciter and chamber ensemble ], from Façade [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Dan Eggleston

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 35
Word count: 158