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by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)

Lethe
Language: English 
Ah, drink again
This river that is the taker-away of pain 
And the giver-back of beauty! 

In these cool waves
What can be lost?
Only the sorry cost
Of the lovely thing, ah, never the thing itself! 

The level flood that laves The hot brow
And the stiff shoulder
Is at our temples now 

Gone is the fever
But not into the river;
Melted the frozen pride
But the tranquil tide
Runs never the warmer for this 
Never the colder 

Immerse the dream 
Drench the kiss
Dip the song in the stream 

Text Authorship:

  • by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950) [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 Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979), "Lethe", 1941 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2020-10-16
Line count: 19
Word count: 92

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