by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), as Fiona Macleod
The Rose of the Night
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE
The dark rose of thy mouth Draw nigher, draw nigher! Thy breath is the wind of the south, A wind of fire, The wind and the rose and darkness, O Rose of my Desire! Deep silence of the night, Husht like a breathless lyre, Save the sea's thunderous might, Dim, menacing, dire, Silence and wind and sea, they are thee, O Rose of my Desire! As a wind-eddying flame Leaping higher and higher, Thy soul, thy secret name, Leaps thro' Death's blazing pyre, Kiss me, Imperishable Fire, dark Rose, O Rose of my Desire!
Author's note: There is an old mystical legend that when a soul among the dead woos a soul among the living, so that both may be reborn as one, the sign is a dark rose, or a rose of flame, in the heart of the night.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Authorship:
- by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), as Fiona Macleod, "The Rose of the Night", appears in The Hour of Beauty, first published 1907 [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 Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884 - 1920), "The Rose of the Night", op. 11 no. 3, A. 59 (1918), published 1918, orchestrated 1918 [ high voice and piano ], from Three Poems of Fiona Macleod, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La Rose de la Nuit", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-18
Line count: 18
Word count: 94