To the River ---- | Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow

To the River ‑‑‑‑

Language: English

Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow
Of crystal, wandering water,
Thou art an emblem of the glow
Of beauty -- the unhidden heart --
The playful maziness of art
In old Alberto's daughter;

But when within thy wave she looks --
Which glistens then, and trembles-
Why, then, the prettiest of brooks
Her worshipper resembles;
For in his heart, as in thy stream,
Her image deeply lies --
His heart which trembles at the beam
Of her soul-searching eyes.

Text Authorship:

by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849), "To the river", appears in The Raven and Other Poems, first published 1845 [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 Creighton Allen (1900 - 1969), "To the River ----", published 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Elliott Griffis (1893 - 1967), "To the River ----", published 1937 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Derek Healey (b. 1936), "To the River", op. 123 no. 5 (2010) [ high voice and piano ], from Thy Distant Fire: an Edgar Allan Poe Songbook, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Bertram Shapleigh (1871 - 1940), "To the River ----", op. 41 (Fünf Lieder) no. 5, published 1901 [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in French (Français), a translation by Stéphane Mallarmé (1842 - 1898) , "À la rivière", appears in Les Poèmes d'Edgar Poe, first published 1889 ; composed by Albert Huybrechts.
Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Franz Hermann Schneider (1860 - 1930) ; composed by Bertram Shapleigh.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-09-29
Line count: 14
Word count: 76