Through gilded trellises Of the heat, Dolores, Inez, Manuccia, Isabel, Lucia, Mock Time that flies. "Lovely bird, will you stay and sing, Flirting your sheened wing,- Peck with your beak, and cling To our balconies?" They flirt their fans, flaunting "O silence enchanting As music!" Then slanting Their eyes, Like gilded or emerald grapes, They make mantillas, capes, Hiding their simian shapes. Sighes Each lady, "Our spadille Is done."...Dance the quadrille from Hell's towers to Seville; Surprise Their siesta," Dolores Said. Through gilded trellises Of the heat, spangles Pelt down through the tangles Of bell flowers; each dangles Her castanets, shutters Fall while the heat mutters, With sounds like a mandoline Or tinkled tambourine... Ladies, Time dies!
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Text Authorship:
- by Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), "Through gilded trellises", 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 Richard Meale (b. 1932), "Through gilded trellises", 1949 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Walton (1902 - 1983), "Through gilded trellises", published 1951, first performed 1923?6 [ reciter and chamber ensemble ], from Façade [sung text checked 1 time]
- by William Walton (1902 - 1983), "Through gilded trellises", published 1932 [ soprano and piano ], from Three songs, no. 2 [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: 31
Word count: 117