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by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

The little white clouds are racing over...
Language: English 
The little white clouds are racing over the sky,
   And the fields are strewn with the gold of the flower of March,
   The daffodil breaks under foot, and the tasselled larch
Sways and swings as the thrush goes hurrying by.

A delicate odour is borne on the wings of the morning breeze,
   The odour of leaves, and of grass, and of newly upturned earth,
   The birds are singing for joy of the Spring's glad birth,
Hopping from branch to branch on the rocking trees.

And all the woods are alive with the murmur and sound of Spring,
   And the rose-bud breaks into pink on the climbing briar,
   And the crocus-bed is a quivering moon of fire
Girdled round with the belt of an amethyst ring.

And the plane to the pine-tree is whispering some tale of love
   Till it rustles with laughter and tosses its mantle of green,
   And the gloom of the wych-elm's hollow is lit with the iris sheen
Of the burnished rainbow throat and the silver breast of a dove.

See! the lark starts up from his bed in the meadow there,
   Breaking the gossamer threads and the nets of dew,
   And flashing adown the river, a flame of blue!
The kingfisher flies like an arrow, and wounds the air.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), "Magdalen Walks" [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 Michael Easton (1954 - 2004), "Magdalen Walks", 1987 [ voice and piano ], from Wilde Thoughts. A Song-Cycle to Poems of Oscar Wilde [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Hugh Moreton Frewen (1883 - 1967), "Magdalen Walks", published c1919 [ voice and piano ], London : West's [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Derek Healey (b. 1936), "Magdalen Walks", op. 16 no. 1 (1962) [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Six Irish Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Kurt Schindler (1882 - 1935), "Early Spring", op. 15 (3 English Songs) no. 1 (1912) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2023-06-18
Line count: 20
Word count: 213

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