by Matthew Arnold (1822 - 1888)
Vain is the effort to forget
Language: English
Vain is the effort to forget. Some day I shall be cold, I know, As is the eternal moonlit snow Of the high Alps, to which I go -- But ah, not yet, not yet! Vain is the agony of grief. 'Tis true, indeed, an iron knot Ties straitly up from mine thy lot, And were it snapt -- thou lov'st me not! But is despair relief? Awhile let me with thought have done. And as this brimm'd unwrinkled Rhine, And that far purple mountain-line, Lie sweetly in the look divine Of the slow-sinking sun; So let me lie, and, calm as they, Let beam upon my inward view Those eyes of deep, soft, lucent hue -- Eyes too expressive to be blue, Too lovely to be grey. Ah, Quiet, all things feel thy balm! Those blue hills too, this river's flow, Were restless once, but long ago. Tamed is their turbulent youthful glow; Their joy is in their calm.
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Text Authorship:
- by Matthew Arnold (1822 - 1888), "On the Rhine", appears in Poems, in Faded Leaves, no. 4, first published 1855 [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 Matthew Emery (b. 1991), "Eyes of deep, soft, lucent hue", 2012. [SATB chorus a cappella] [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-02-07
Line count: 25
Word count: 157