by James Stephens (1882 - 1950)
The king of the fairy men
Language: English
I know the man without a soul: He is happy as the day, He is happy, people say. He is happy - so they say: But they do not see him roll On the ground in very dole. All along the ground in dole, When no one is watching, he Bites the ground in agony. He bites the ground in agony: But with people he is whole: I know the man without a soul!
Text Authorship:
- by James Stephens (1882 - 1950), "The king of the fairy men", appears in Songs from the Clay, first published 1915 [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 Sidney Homer (1864 - 1953), "The king of the fairy men", op. 34 (Four Modern Poems) no. 1 (<<1940) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Freda Mary Swain (1902 - 1985), "The king of the fairy men", 1934 [ soprano or tenor and piano ensemble ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-06-14
Line count: 12
Word count: 73