by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)
Dark house, by which once more I stand
Language: English
Dark house, by which once more I stand
Here in the long unlovely street,
Doors, where my heart was used to beat
So quickly, waiting for a hand,
A hand that can be clasp'd no more --
Behold me, for I cannot sleep,
And like a guilty thing I creep
At earliest morning to the door.
He is not here; but far away
The noise of life begins again,
And ghastly thro' the drizzling rain
On the bald street breaks the blank day.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, written 1849, appears in In Memoriam A. H. H. obiit MDCCCXXXIII, no. 7, first published 1850 [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 John Chorbajian (b. 1936), "Dark house", published 1974 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jonathan Dove (b. 1959), "Dark house", 2011 [ bass-baritone and piano ], from Three Tennyson Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wim Zwaag (b. 1960), "Dark house, by which once more I stand", 1997 [ high mezzo-soprano or high baritone and piano ], from Three Tennyson Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Léon Morel (1850 - 1917) , no title, appears in In Memoriam, poèmes de Lord Alfred Tennyson traduits en vers français, Paris, Éd. Hachette, first published 1898 ; composed by Max d'Ollone.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-08
Line count: 12
Word count: 83