by Vachel Lindsay (1879 - 1931)
What the Rattlesnake Said
Language: English
The moon's a little prairie-dog. He shivers through the night. He sits upon his hill and cries For fear that I will bite. The sun's a broncho. He's afraid Like every other thing, And trembles, morning, noon and night, Lest I should spring, and sting.
Text Authorship:
- by Vachel Lindsay (1879 - 1931), "What the Rattlesnake Said", appears in The Congo and Other Poems, in 4. Fourth Section: Twenty Poems in which the Moon is the Principal Figure of Speech, in 1. First Section: Moon Poems for the Children/Fairy-tales for the Children, no. 3, first published 1914 [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 Jake Heggie (b. 1961), "What the Rattlesnake Said", 1998, first performed 1998 [voice and piano], from Songs to the Moon, Part 1: "Fairy-Tales for the Children", no. 4. [text not verified]
- by M. Ryan Taylor (b. 1972), "What the Rattlesnake Said", 1999 [voice and piano], from The Moon Songs, no. 5. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-07-29
Line count: 8
Word count: 45