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by Vachel Lindsay (1879 - 1931)

The amaranth
Language: English 
Ah, in the night, all music haunts me here. . . .
Is it for naught high Heaven cracks and yawns
And the tremendous Amaranth descends
Sweet with the glory of ten thousand dawns?

Does it not mean my God would have me say: --
"Whether you will or no, O city young,
Heaven will bloom like one great flower for you,
Flash and loom greatly all your marts among?"

Friends, I will not cease hoping though you weep.
Such things I see, and some of them shall come
Though now our streets are harsh and ashen-gray,
Though our strong youths are strident now, or dumb.
Friends, that sweet town, that wonder-town, shall rise.
Naught can delay it.  Though it may not be
Just as I dream, it comes at last I know
With streets like channels of an incense-sea.

Text Authorship:

  • by Vachel Lindsay (1879 - 1931), "The amaranth", appears in The Congo and Other Poems, first published 1925 [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 John H. Harbison (b. 1938), "The amaranth" [baritone, six-part chorus, instrumental ensemble (7 instruments)], from The Flower-Fed Buffaloes, no. 5. [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-10-30
Line count: 16
Word count: 139

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