by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
I'll keep a little tavern
Language: English
I'll keep a little tavern
Below the high hill's crest,
Wherein all grey-eyed people
May set them down and rest.
There shall be plates a-plenty,
And mugs to melt the chill
Of all the grey-eyed people
Who happen up the hill.
There sound will sleep the traveller,
And dream his journey's end,
But I will rouse at midnight
The falling fire to tend.
Aye, 'tis a curious fancy --
But all the good I know
Was taught me out of two grey eyes
A long time ago.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "Tavern", appears in Renascence and Other Poems, first published 1917 [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 Joel Balzun (b. 1990), "Grey (The little tavern)", 2011 [ vocal duet for tenor and baritone with piano ], from The strong, the strange, and the humble, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ruth W. Vanderlip (1900 - 1986), "The little tavern", published 1929 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 86