by James Stephens (1882 - 1950)
Sing while you may, O bird upon the...
Language: English
Sing while you may, O bird upon the tree! Although on high, wide-winged above the day, Chill evening broadens to immensity, Sing while you may. On thee, wide-hovering too, intent to slay, The hawk's slant pinion buoys him terribly -- Thus near the end is of thy happy lay. The day and thou and miserable me Dark wings shall cover up and hide away Where no song stirs of bird or memory: Sing while you may.
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Text Authorship:
- by James Stephens (1882 - 1950), "Dark wings", first published <<1917 [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 Seymour Barab (1921 - 2014), "The hawk", from The Rivals, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-22
Line count: 11
Word count: 75