by Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880 - 1966)
I want to die while you love me
Language: English
I want to die while you love me, While yet you hold me fair, While laughter lies upon my lips And lights are in my hair. I want to die while you love me, And bear to that still bed, Your kisses turbulent, unspent To warm me when I'm dead. I want to die while you love me Oh, who would care to live Till love has nothing more to ask And nothing more to give! I want to die while you love me And never, never see The glory of this perfect day Grow dim or cease to be.
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: included in the 1922 anthology The Book of American Negro Poetry.
Text Authorship:
- by Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880 - 1966), no title, first published 1922 [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "I want to die while you love me", 2007, from Four Songs of a Woman, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Harry Thacker Burleigh (1866 - 1949), "I want to die while you love me", 1919 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962), "I want to die while you love me", 2015 [ voice and piano ], from Miss Wheatley's Garden, Volume 1, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, adapted by Undine Eliza Anna Smith (1904 - 1989) [an adaptation] ; composed by Undine Eliza Anna Smith, as Undine Smith Moore.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-02-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 100