by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
Northern April
Language: English
O mind, beset by music never for a moment quiet, – The wind at the flue, the wind strumming the shutter; The soft, antiphonal speech of the doubled brook, never for a moment quiet; The rush of the rain against the glass, his voice in the eaves-gutter! Where shall I lay you to sleep, and the robins be quiet? Lay you to sleep – and the frogs be silent in the marsh? Crashes the sleet from the bough and the bough sighs upward, never for a moment quiet. April is upon us, pitiless and young and harsh. O April, full of blood, full of breath, have pity upon us! Pale, where the winter like a stone has been lifted away, we emerge like yellow grass. Be for a moment quiet, buffet us not, have pity upon us, Till the green comes back into the vein, till the giddiness pass.
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "Northern April", written 1928 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Eric Ewazen (b. 1954), "Northern April", 1983 [ high voice and piano ], from Four Lyrics of Edna St. Vincent Millay, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2023-05-02
Line count: 12
Word count: 149