by Herman Melville (1819 - 1891)
Monody
Language: English
To have known him, to have loved him After loneness long; And then to be estranged in life, And neither in the wrong; And now for death to set his seal-- Ease me, a little ease, my song! By wintry hills his hermit-mound The sheeted snow-drifts drape, And houseless there the snow-bird flits Beneath the fir-trees' crape: Glazed now with ice the cloistral vine That hid the shyest grape.
Text Authorship:
- by Herman Melville (1819 - 1891), "Monody", written 1864-5?, from Timoleon, first published 1891 [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 David Leo Diamond (1915 - 2005), "Monody", published 1947 [medium voice and piano], from 5 Songs by David Diamond [text not verified]
- by William Flanagan (1923 - 1969), "Monody", published 1978 [soprano and piano], from Time's Long Ago: A Cycle of Songs to Poems of Herman Melville [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-19
Line count: 12
Word count: 69