by Mary O'Neill (1905 - 1990)
Orange is a tiger lily
Language: English
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Orange is a tiger lily, A carrot, A feather from A parrot, A flame, The wildest color You can name. Orange is a happy day Saying good-by In a sunset that Shocks the sky. Orange is brave Orange is bold It’s bittersweet And marigold. Orange is zip Orange is dash The brightest stripe In a Roman sash. Orange is an orange Also a mango Orange is music Of the tango. Orange is the fur Of the fiery fox, The brightest crayon In the box. And in the fall When the leaves are turning Orange is the smell Of a bonfire burning…
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Text Authorship:
- by Mary O'Neill (1905 - 1990), "What is Orange?", appears in Hailstones and Halibut Bones, first published 1961 [author's text not yet checked 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 Ruth Watson Henderson (1932 - 2026), "Orange", published 2002, copyright © 2000 [ sa chorus and piano ], from Adventures in Color, Earthsongs
Publisher: Earthsongs [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-09-05
Line count: 31
Word count: 101