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by Maxwell Anderson (1888 - 1959)

St. Agnes' Morning
Language: English 
Between the dawn and the sun's rising
She could not sleep, so the blood stirred in her;
She could not sleep, and in the cold morning
Woke with the white curtains' stir.

Between the dawn and the river's [flaming]1
She folded a curtain toward the sea,
And, bending, lifted silks together
In the cold light, dubiously.

In the cold air, pulsing the curtain,
She lifted silks; and let them fall.
In the wind she bent above them
Hearing their rustling musical.
Between the dawn and the silver morning
She could not sleep, so the blood dinned
With the river's silver and the sea's silence
And the wind.

View original text (without footnotes)
First published in the New Republic, 1921
1 Cowell's first published version based on a manuscript copy of the poem: "flowing" - possibly due to mis-reading the handwriting.

Text Authorship:

  • by Maxwell Anderson (1888 - 1959), "St. Agnes' Morning" [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 Henry Dixon Cowell (1897 - 1965), "St. Agnes' Morning", L. 152 (1914), first performed 1947. [voice and piano] [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-10-31
Line count: 16
Word count: 108

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