by Mary Ann Evans (1819 - 1880), as George Eliot
Sweet Springtime
Language: English
It was in the prime
Of the sweet Spring-time
In the linnet's throat
Trembled the love-note,
And the love-stirred air
Thrilled the blossoms there.
Little shadows danced,
Each a tiny elf,
Happy in large light
And the thinnest self.
It was but a minute
In a far-off Spring,
But each gentle thing,
Sweetly-wooing linnet,
Soft-thrilled hawthorn-tree,
Happy shadowy elf,
With the thinnest self,
Live [still on]1 in me.
[O the sweet, sweet prime]2
Of the past Spring-time!
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Stanford: "on still"
2 Stanford: "It was in the prime"
Researcher for this text: Ted Perry
1 Stanford: "on still"
2 Stanford: "It was in the prime"
Authorship
- by Mary Ann Evans (1819 - 1880), as George Eliot, appears in The Spanish Gypsy, first published 1868 [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 Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Sweet Springtime", op. 1 no. 3, from Eight songs from "The Spanish Gypsy", no. 3. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 77