by John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848)
The lip and the heart
Language: English
One day between the Lip and the Heart A wordless strife arose, Which was expertest in the art His purpose to disclose. The Lip called forth the vassal Tongue, And made him vouch -- a lie! The slave his servile anthem sung, And braved the listening sky. The Heart to speak in vain essayed, Nor could his purpose reach -- His will nor voice nor tongue obeyed, His silence was his speech. Mark thou their difference, child of earth! While each performs his part, Not all the lip can speak is worth The silence of the heart.
Text Authorship:
- by John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848) [author's text not yet checked 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), "The lip and the heart", 2007 [medium voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-02-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 95