She was a lady great and splendid, I was a minstrel in her halls. A warrior like a prince attended Stayed his steed by the castle walls. Far had he fared to gaze upon her; "Oh, rest thee now, Sir Knight!" she said. The warrior wooed, the warrior won her, In time of snowdrops they were wed. I made sweet music in his honour -- And longed to strike him dead. I passed at midnight from her portal, Throughout the world till death I rove. Ah, let me make this Lute immortal With rapture of my hate and love!
Confirmed with The Poems of William Watson, New York, MacMillan and Co., 1893, page 50 (above); also confirmed with Selected Readings: Designed to Impart to the Student an Appreciation in Literature in Its Wider Sense, A. C. McClurg & Company, 1909, with changes detailed below.
Notes
Stanza 1, line 2: in the 1909 edition of the poem, the word "halls" is replaced with "hall"
Stanza 1, line 4: in the 1909 edition of the poem, the line is "And stayed his steed at her castle wall"
Stanza 3, line 2: in the 1909 edition of the poem, the word "rove" is replaced with "roam".
Text Authorship:
- by William Watson, Sir (1858 - 1935), "The Lute Player", appears in Wordsworth's Grave and Other Poems, first published 1891 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Frances Allitsen (1848 - 1912), "The Lute Player", <<1895, published 1895 [ voice and piano ], London: Willcocks [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878 - 1937), "The Lute Player", published 1922 [ voice and piano ], J. B. Cramer & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-21
Line count: 14
Word count: 98