by Louis Untermeyer (1885 - 1977)
Back she came through the trembling dusk
Language: English
Back she came through the trembling dusk; And her mother spoke and said: "What is it makes you late to-day, And why do you smile and sing as gay As though you just were wed?" "Oh mother, my hen that never had chicks Has hatched out six!" Back she came through the flaming dusk; And her mother spoke and said: "What gives your eyes that dancing light, What makes your lips so strangely bright, And why are your cheeks so red?" "Oh mother, the berries I ate in the lane Have left a stain." Back she came through the faltering dusk; And her mother spoke and said: "You are weeping; your footstep is heavy with care - What makes you totter and cling to the stair, And why do you hang your head?" "Oh mother - oh mother - you never can know - I loved him so!"
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Authorship:
- by Louis Untermeyer (1885 - 1977), "Folk-Song", appears in Challenge, first published 1914 [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 Arthur Walter Kramer (1890 - 1969), "The faltering dusk", op. 45 no. 1, published 1919. [voice and piano] [text not verified]
- by Walter Henry Rothwell (1872 - 1927), "Folk-Song", published 1925. [high voice and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-09-06
Line count: 21
Word count: 148