by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
On a midsummer eve
Language: English
I idly cut a parsley stalk, And blew therein towards the moon; I had not thought what ghosts would walk With shivering footsteps to my tune. I went, and knelt, and scooped my hand As if to drink, into the brook, And a faint figure seemed to stand Above me, with the bygone look. I lipped rough rhymes of chance, not choice, I thought not what my words might be; There came into my ear a voice That turned a tenderer verse for me.
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "On a midsummer eve", from Selected Poems of Thomas Hardy, first published 1916 [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 Arthur Butterworth (b. 1923), "On a midsummer eve", 1948 [soprano and piano], from Four Nocturnal Songs [text not verified]
- by Donald Waxman (b. 1925), "On a midsummer eve", published 1960 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Eight songs : for a cappella chorus from poems of Thomas Hardy, no. 7. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 84