The birds | Where thou dwellest, in what grove

Where thou dwellest, in what grove

Language: English

He.  
 Where thou dwellest, in what grove,
 Tell me Fair One, tell me Love;
 Where thou thy charming nest dost build,
 O thou pride of every field!

She. 
 Yonder stands a lonely tree,
 There I live and mourn for thee;
 Morning drinks my silent tear,
 And evening winds my sorrow bear.

He.
 O thou summer's harmony,
 I have liv'd and mourn'd for thee;
 Each day I mourn along the wood,
 And night hath heard my sorrows loud.

She.
 Dost thou truly long for me?
 And am I thus sweet to thee?
 Sorrow now is at an end,
 O my Lover and my Friend!

He.
 Come, on wings of joy we'll fly
 To where my bower hangs on high;
 Come, and make thy calm retreat
 Among green leaves and blossoms sweet.

D. Klotzman sets stanza 2

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The birds", from Life, Volume II, first published 1863 [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 Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "The birds", published <<1912 [ 2-part children's chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by William Henry Bell (1873 - 1946), "The birds", 1940, orchestrated 1944 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Twelve Blake Songs, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "The birds", 1919, published 1932 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Mark Leopold Bucci (b. 1929), "The birds", published 1968 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from The Wondrous Kingdom (Flora and Fauna), no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
by Frederick Robert Frye , "The song of the birds", published 1893 [ medium voice and piano ], London, J. H. Larway [sung text not yet checked]
by Dorothy Hill Klotzman , "A lonely tree", published c1967, stanza 2 [ SA chorus a cappella ], from Poetical Sketches, no. 1, NY : Mercury Music Corp. [sung text not yet checked]
by Antal Ribári (1924 - 1992), "The birds", 1973 [ mezzo-soprano or alto, tenor, SATB chorus, and small orchestra ], from cantata Requiem for the Lover, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Dom Thomas Symons (1887 - 1975), "The birds", published c1935 [ unison chorus ], London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
by Eugene John Weigel (1910 - 1998), "The birds" [ five-part chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Battelle Whiting (1861 - 1936), "The birds", published 1926, from The Golden Cage, pageant [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Hungarian (Magyar), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by István Sárközy.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 25
Word count: 130