I have wished a bird would fly away And not sing round my house all day. I have clapped my hands at him from the door When it seemed as if I could bear no more. The fault must partly have been in me, The bird was not to blame for his key. And besides there must be something wrong In wanting to silence any song.
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Text Authorship:
- by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), "A minor bird", appears in West-Running Brook, first published 1928 [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 William Thayer Ames (1901 - 1987), "A minor bird" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jeanne Behrend (1911 - 1988), "A minor bird", from Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Celius Dougherty (1902 - 1986), "A minor bird", published 1958 [ medium voice and piano ], G. Schirmer/Hal Leonard [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 66