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by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

The True Knowledge
Language: English 
Thou knowest all; I seek in vain
What lands to till or sow with seed -
The land is black with briar and weed,
Nor cares for falling tears or rain.

Thou knowest all; I sit and wait
With blinded eyes and hands that fail,
Till the last lifting of the veil
And the first opening of the gate.

Thou knowest all; I cannot see.
I trust I shall not live in vain,
I know that we shall meet again
In some divine eternity.

Text Authorship:

  • by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), "The True Knowledge" [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 Miranda Al-Raad (b. 1988), "The True Knowledge", 2010 [ voice and guitar ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Biggs (b. 1932), "The True Knowledge", op. 72 (1972) [ voice and piano ], from Two Chorales on Poems of Oscar Wilde [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Michael Easton (1954 - 2004), "The True Knowledge", 1987 [ voice and piano ], from Wilde Thoughts. A Song-Cycle to Poems of Oscar Wilde [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2023-06-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 83

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