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by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 - 1909)

Kissing her hair I sat against her feet
Language: English 
Kissing her hair I sat against her feet,
Wove and unwove it, wound and found it sweet;
Made fast therewith her hands, drew down her eyes,
Deep as deep flowers and dreamy like dim skies;
With her own tresses bound and found her fair,
        Kissing her hair.

Sleep were no sweeter than her face to me,
Sleep of cold sea-bloom under the cold sea;
What pain could get between my face and hers?
What new sweet thing would love not relish worse?
Unless, perhaps, white death had kissed me there,
        Kissing her hair? 

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 - 1909), "Rondel", appears in Poems and Ballads, first published 1866 [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 Arthur Bergh (1882 - 1962), "Kissing her hair I sat against her feet", published 1939 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Rondel", 1895-1896, first performed 1906 [ alto or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-01-27
Line count: 12
Word count: 94

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