Baskets of ripe fruit in air The bird-songs seem, suspended where Between the hairy leaves trills dew, All tasting of fresh green anew. Ma'am, I've heard your laughter flare Through your waspish-gilded hair: Feathered masks Pots of peas, Janus asks Naught of these Creaking water Brightly stripèd, No, I've caught her - Shrieking biped. Flute sounds jump And turn together Changing clumps Of glassy feather. In among the Pots of peas Naiad changes - Quick as these.
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Text Authorship:
- by Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), 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 Peter Sculthorpe (b. 1929), "Gardener Janus catches a naiad", W14 (1946) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Walton (1902 - 1983), "Gardinir Janus", 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: 22
Word count: 75