by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
The old gown
Language: English
I have seen her in gowns the brightest, Of azure, green, and red, And in the simplest, whitest, Muslined from heel to head; I have watched her walking, riding, Shade-flecked by a leafy tree, Or in fixed thought abiding By the foam-fingered sea. In woodlands I have known her, When boughs were mourning loud, In the rain-reek she has shown her Wild-haired and watery-browed. And once or twice she has cast me As she pomped along the street Court-clad, ere quite she had passed me, A glance from her chariot-seat. But in my memoried passion For evermore stands she In the gown of fading fashion She wore that night when we, Doomed long to part, assembled In the snug small room; yea, when She sang with lips that trembled, "Shall I see his face again?"
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), appears in Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses, first published 1922 [author's text not yet checked 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 Roy Buckle (b. 1926), "The old gown" [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2006-10-11
Line count: 24
Word count: 135