by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
I wandered in Scoglietto’s green retreat
Language: English
I wandered in Scoglietto’s green retreat, The oranges on each o’erhanging spray Burned as bright lamps of gold to shame the day; Some startled bird with fluttering wings and fleet Made snow of all the blossoms, at my feet Like silver moons the pale narcissi lay: And the curved waves that streaked the sapphire bay Laughed i’ the sun, and life seemed very sweet. Outside the young boy-priest passed singing clear, “Jesus the Son of Mary has been slain, O come and fill his sepulchre with flowers.” Ah, God! Ah, God! those dear Hellenic hours Had drowned all memory of Thy bitter pain, The Cross, the Crown, the Soldiers, and the Spear.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Oscar Wilde, Poems, Boston: Robert Brothers, 1881.
Text Authorship:
- by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), "Sonnet written in Holy Week at Genoa" [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 Raoul Pleskow (b. 1931), "Holy Week at Genoa", 1987 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs on Texts of Oscar Wilde [sung text not yet checked]
- by Evelyn Sharpe (1884 - 1969), "Written in Holy Week at Genoa", 1929 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2023-06-20
Line count: 14
Word count: 112