The wind | I saw you toss the kites on high

I saw you toss the kites on high

Language: English

Our translations: CHI

I saw you toss the kites on high
And blow the birds about the sky;
And all around I heard you pass,
Like ladies' skirts across the grass -- 
  O wind, a-blowing all day long,
  O wind, that sings so loud a song!

I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid.
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all -- 
  O wind, a-blowing all day long,
  O wind, that sings so loud a song!

O you that are so strong and cold,
O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?
  O wind, a-blowing all day long,
  O wind, that sings so loud a song!

About the headline (FAQ)

First published in Magazine of Art, July 1884

Text Authorship:

by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The wind", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885 [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 Frederic Field Bullard (1864 - 1904), "The wind", published 1910 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Henry A. Clark , "The wind", published 1966 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Mary E. Covert , "The wind", published 1954 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Thomas Crawford , "The wind", published 1915 [ voice and piano ], from Songs with Music from "A Child's Garden of Verses", no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Natalie Burlin Curtis (1875 - 1921), "The wind", published 1902 [ voice and piano ], from Songs from "A Child's Garden of Verses" [sung text not yet checked]
by (Henry Louis) Reginald De Koven (1859 - 1920), "The wind", published 1897 [ voice and piano ], from The Stevenson Song-Book [sung text not yet checked]
by Keith Fowler , "The wind", published 1926 [ unison chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
by William Wallace Gilchrist (1846 - 1916), "The wind", published 1928-30 [ unaccompanied voice ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Caroline Susan Theodora Grosvenor (1858 - 1940?), "The Wind", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ], from Six songs from "A Child's Garden of Verses" [sung text not yet checked]
by Victor Herbert (1859 - 1924), "The wind", published 1920 [ unaccompanied voice ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Edward Jager (b. 1939), "The wind" [ soprano and piano or woodwinds or chamber orchestra ], from A Child's Garden of Verses [sung text not yet checked]
by John Basil Hugh Longmire (1902 - 1986), "A windy day", published 1970 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Roger Nixon (1921 - 2009), "The wind", published 1962 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Marvin Radnor , "The wind", published 1923 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "The Wind", published 1911 [ voice and piano ], from The Twins' Tune Book, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Edith Swepstone (flourished 1887-1915), "The wind", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], from Robert Louis Stevenson's Songs for Children, no. 3, London : J. Curwen & Sons Ltd. [sung text not yet checked]
by Mabel Nightingale Woodward (1876 - 1911), "The wind", published 1912 [ voice and piano ], from Songs, no. 2, Birmingham : Press of the Birmingham Printers [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-12-08
Line count: 18
Word count: 128