The tide river | Clear and cool | Clear and cool, clear and cool

Clear and cool, clear and cool

Language: English

Clear and cool, clear and cool,
By laughing shallow, and dreaming pool;
Cool and clear, cool and clear,
By shining shingle, and foaming wear;
Under the crag where the ouzel sings,
And the ivied wall where the church-bell rings,
Undefiled, for the undefiled;
Play by me, bathe in me, mother and child.

Dank and foul, dank and foul,
By the smoky town in its murky cowl;
Foul and dank, foul and dank,
By wharf and sewer and slimy bank;
Darker and darker the farther I go,
Baser and baser the richer I grow;
Who dare sport with the sin-defiled?
Shrink from me, turn from me, mother and child.

Strong and free, strong and free,
The floodgates are open, away to the sea.
Free and strong, free and strong,
Cleansing my streams as I hurry along
To the golden sands, and the leaping bar,
And the taintless tide that awaits me afar,
As I lose myself in the infinite main,
Like a soul that has sinned and is pardoned again.
Undefiled, for the undefiled;
Play by me, bathe in me, mother and child.

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Text Authorship:

by Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875), "The tide river", written 1862, appears in The Water-Babies [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 Frederick Cook Atkinson (1841 - 1897), "Cool and clear", published 1874 [ voice and piano ], from Six songs, London: A. Weekes [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Henry Behrend (1853 - 1935), "Clear and cool", published 1879 [ voice and piano ], London: Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
by John Ernest Borland (1866 - 1937), "Song of the River", published 1927 [ unison chorus with optional second part and piano ], London: Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
by Ellen Dickson (1819 - 1878), as Dolores, "Clear and cool. A Brook", published c1870 [ voice and piano ], London, Boosey & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Thomas Frederick Dunhill (1877 - 1946), "Clear and cool", published 1916 [ SATB quartet and piano ], from Songs of the River, London: Joseph Williams [sung text not yet checked]
by (Isador) George Henschel (1850 - 1934), "The brook sings", op. 36 no. 1, published 1884 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs from Kingsley's "Water-Babies", no. 1, Hamburg, Cranz, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "Clear and cool", 1897, first performed 1897 [ SAATB chorus and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Winthrop L. Rogers , "The tide river", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Mary Shillington , "Clear and cool", published 1899 [ canon for unison female voices (chorus or vocal duet) and piano ], from Three Two-Part Songs, London: Woolhouse [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by George Henschel.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-18
Line count: 26
Word count: 182

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