by John Masefield (1878 - 1967)
Sorrow o' Mydath
Language: English
Weary the cry of the wind is, weary the sea, Weary the heart and the mind and the body of me. Would I were out of it, done with it, would I could be A white gull crying along the desolate sands! Outcast, derelict soul in a body accurst, Standing drenched with the spindrift standing athirst, For the cool green waves of death to arise and burst In a tide of quiet for me on the desolate sands. Would that the waves and the long white hair of the spray Would gather in splendid terror and blot me away To the sunless place of the wrecks where the waters sway Gently, dreamily quietly over desolate sands!
First published in Speaker, February 1902
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Text Authorship:
- by John Masefield (1878 - 1967), "Sorrow o' Mydath", appears in Salt Water Ballads, first published 1902 [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 C. Alison-Crompton , "Sorrow o' Mydath", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Malcolm Gordon Davidson (1891 - 1949), "Sorrow o' Mydath", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884 - 1920), "Sorrow o' Mydath", 1917, published 1920 [ voice and piano ], from Two Poems by John Masefield, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Philip Napier Miles (1865 - 1935), "Sorrow o' Mydath", published <<1935 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Eugene Ward (1917 - 2013), "Sorrow o' Mydath", published 1952 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-10-22
Line count: 12
Word count: 116