by Richard Aldington (né Edward Godfree Aldington) (1892 - 1962)
To a Greek marble
Language: English
Potnia, potnia, White grave goddess, Pity my sadness, O silence of Paros. I am not of these about thy feet, These garments and decorum; I am thy brother, Thy lover of aforetime crying to thee, And thou hearest me not. I have whispered thee in thy solitudes Of our loves in Phrygia, The far ecstasy of burning noons When the fragile pipes Ceased in the cypress shade, And the brown fingers of the shepherd Moved over slim shoulders; And only the cicada sang. I have told thee of the hills And the lisp of reeds And the sun upon thy breasts, And thou hearest me not, Potnia, potnia Thou hearest me not.
Text Authorship:
- by Richard Aldington (né Edward Godfree Aldington) (1892 - 1962), "To a Greek marble", from Images (1910-1915), first published 1915 [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 Denis ApIvor (1916 - 2004), "To a Greek marble", op. 6 (Songs opus 6) no. ? (1940-6) [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-15
Line count: 23
Word count: 4