I must not think of thee; and, tired [yet]1 strong,
  I shun the [love]2 that lurks in all delight --
  The [love]3 of thee -- [and]4 in the blue heaven's height,
[And]4 in the [dearest]5 passage of a song.
Oh, just beyond the [sweetest]3 thoughts that throng
  This breast, the thought of thee waits hidden yet bright;
  But it must never, never come in sight;
I must stop short of thee the whole day long.
But when sleep comes to close each difficult day,
  When night gives pause to the long watch I keep,
And all my bonds I needs must loose apart,
Must doff my will as raiment laid away, --
  With the first dream that comes with the first sleep
I run, I run, I am gather'd to thy heart.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir. The Oxford Book of English Verse, Oxford, Clarendon, 1919, [c1901]; Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/101/879.html.

¹ Wilkinson: "but"
² Agopov, Wilkinson: "thought"
³ Agopov: "sweetest"; Wilkinson: "thought"
⁴ Wilkinson: "or"
⁵ Agopov, Wilkinson: "fairest"

Authorship

• by Alice Christina Meynell, née Thompson (1847 - 1922), "Renouncement", appears in Poems, first published 1893 [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 Vladimir Agopov (b. 1953), "Renouncement", op. 11 no. 3 (1986) [voice, flute, and accordion], from Four Songs to the Words by Alice Meynell, no. 3. [ sung text checked 1 time]
• by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "Renouncement", 1976, published 1977 [soprano or tenor and instrumental ensemble], from Four Poems by Alice Meynell, no. 2, New York, Carl Fischer [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Renouncement", 1964 [soprano and piano], Southern/Texas [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Herbert Elwell (1898 - 1974), "Renouncement", published <<1940. [medium voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Muriel Emily Herbert (1897 - 1984), "Renouncement", published 1923 [voice and piano], London : Augener [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Hermann Frederic Löhr (1872 - 1943), "Renouncement", published 1917 [voice and piano], from Two sonnets [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "Renouncement" [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Bryceson Treharne (1879 - 1948), "Renouncement", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "Renunciation" [voice and piano], from Eternal Summer, no. 7. [ sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 129