by Isaac Rosenberg (1890 - 1918)
Returning, we hear the larks
Language: English
Sombre the night is. And though we have our lives, we know What sinister threat lurks there. Dragging these anguished limbs, we only know This poison-blasted track opens on our camp -- On a little safe sleep. But hark! joy-joy-strange joy. Lo! heights of night ringing with unseen larks Music showering on our upturned list'ning faces. Death could drop from the dark As easily as song -- But song only dropped, Like a blind man's dreams on the sand By dangerous tides, Like a girl's dark hair for she dreams no ruin lies there, Or her kisses where a serpent hides.
Text Authorship:
- by Isaac Rosenberg (1890 - 1918), "Returning, we hear the larks", written 1840 [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 Arnold Atkinson Cooke (1906 - 2005), "Returning, we hear the larks", 1956, published 1963 [soprano, horn, and piano], from Nocturnes, no. 2. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-09-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 99