Nothing on the grey roof, nothing on the brown, Only a little greening where the rain drips down; Nobody at the window, nobody at the door, Only a little hollow which a foot once wore; But still I tread on tiptoe, still tiptoe on I go, Past nettles, porch, and weedy well, for oh, I know A friendless face is peering, and a still clear eye Peeps closely through the casement as my step goes by.
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Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "The old stone house", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 6. Witches and Fairies, no. 7, first published 1913 [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 Herbert Norman Howells (1892 - 1983), "The old stone house", from A Garland for de la Mare, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Anthony Francis Dominic Milner (b. 1925), "The old stone house", published 1959 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], from Peacock Pie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "The old stone house", published 1943 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], from Peacock Pie [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 76