by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)
By the Pool
Language: English
By the pool that I see in my dreams, dear love, I have sat with you time and again; And listened beneath the dank leaves, dear love, To the sibilant sound of the rain. And the pool, it is silvery bright, dear love, And as pure as the heart of a maid, As sparkling and dimpling, it darkles and shines In the depths of the heart of the glade. But, oh, I’ ve a wish in my soul, dear love, (The wish of a dreamer, it seems,) That I might wash free of my sins, dear love, In the pool that I see in my dreams.
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906) [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 Irene Britton Smith (1907 - 1999), "By the Pool", 1947 [ voice and piano ], from Dream Cycle, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-10-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 106