by Kathleen Raine (1908 - 2003)
Within the flower there lies a seed
Language: English
Within the flower there lies a seed, Within the seed there springs a tree, Within the tree there spreads a wood. In the wood there burns a fire, And in the fire there melts a stone, Within the stone a ring of iron. Within the ring there lies an O, Within the O there looks an eye, In the eye there swims a sea, And in the sea reflected sky, And in the sky there shines the sun, Within the sun a bird of gold. Within the bird there beats a heart, And from the heart there flows a song, And in the song there sings a word. In the word there speaks a world, A world of joy, a world of grief, From joy and grief there springs my love. Oh love, my love, there springs a world, And on the world there shines a sun, And in the sun there burns a fire, Within the fire consumes my heart, And in my heart there beats a bird, And in the bird there wakes an eye, Within the eye, earth, sea and sky, Earth, sky and sea within an O Lie like the seed within the flower.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Kathleen Raine (1908 - 2003), "A Spell For Creation", appears in The Year One, no. 17, first published 1952 [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 Alissa Firsova (b. 1986), "Spell of Creation", op. 51 no. 4 (2023), first performed 2023 [ contralto and orchestra ], from Spell of Creation, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-01-22
Line count: 27
Word count: 198