by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
My Voice
Language: English
Within the restless, hurried, modern world We took our hearts’ full pleasure—You and I, And now the white sails of our ships are furled, And spent the lading of our argosy. Wherefore my cheeks before their time are wan, For very weeping is my gladness fled, Sorrow hath paled my lip’s vermilion And Ruin draws the curtains of my bed. But all this crowded life has been to thee No more than lyre, or lute, or subtle spell Of viols, or the music of the sea That sleeps, a mimic echo, in the shell.
Text Authorship:
- by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), "My Voice" [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 Michael Easton (1954 - 2004), "My Voice", 1987 [ voice and piano ], from Wilde Thoughts. A Song-Cycle to Poems of Oscar Wilde [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Goertzen (b. 1990), "My Voice", published 2011 [ mixed chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Sydney Morgan (b. 1932), "My Voice", 1999 [ mixed chorus and brass ], from Canti sacri e profane [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2023-06-19
Line count: 12
Word count: 94