by Emily Brontë (1818 - 1848)
The Lady to her Guitar
Language: English
For him who struck thy foreign string, I ween this heart has ceased to care; Then why dost thou such feelings bring To my sad spirit--old Guitar? It is as if the warm sunlight In some deep glen should lingering stay, When clouds of storm, or shades of night, Have wrapt the parent orb away. It is as if the glassy brook Should image still its willows fair, Though years ago the woodman's stroke Laid low in dust their Dryad-hair. Even so, Guitar, thy magic tone Hath moved the tear and waked the sigh: Hath bid the ancient torrent moan, Although its very source is dry.
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Brontë (1818 - 1848), "The Lady to her Guitar", appears in Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, first published 1850 [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 Alfred Jepson , "The Lady to her Guitar", published 1962? [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Leisner (b. 1958), "The Lady to her Guitar", 1986 [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Confiding, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-12-06
Line count: 16
Word count: 106