by Robert Browning (1812 - 1889)
Dip your arm o'er the boat‑side,...
Language: English
Dip your arm o'er the boat-side, elbow-deep, As I do: thus: were death so unlike sleep, Caught this way? Death's to fear from flame or steel, Or poison doubtless; but from water -- feel! Go find the bottom! Would you stay me? There! Now pluck a great blade of that ribbon-grass To plait in where the foolish jewel was, I flung away: since you have praised my hair, 'Tis proper to be choice in what I wear.
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Text Authorship:
- by Robert Browning (1812 - 1889), no title, appears in Bells and Pomegranates, first published 1842 [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 Alice Barnett (1886 - 1975), "Dip your arm o'er the boatside", published 1920 [high voice and piano], from In a gondola, no. 6. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-02
Line count: 9
Word count: 76