by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933)
The river
Language: English
I came from the sunny valleys
And sought for the open sea,
For I thought in its gray expanses
My peace would come to me.
I came at last to the ocean
And found it wild and black,
And I cried to the windless valleys,
"Be kind and take me back!"
But the thirsty tide ran inland,
And the salt waves drank of me,
And I who was fresh as the rainfall
Am bitter as the sea.
Text Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "The river", appears in Rivers to the Sea, first published 1915 [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 Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "The river" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Norman Lee (1895 - ?), "The river", published 1936 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 77