by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
That day
Language: English
I stand by the river where both of us stood, And there is but one shadow to darken the flood; And the path leading to it; where both used to pass, Has the steo but one, to take dew from the grass, - One forlorn since that day. The flowers of the margin are many to see; None stoops at my bidding to pluck them for me. The bird in the alder sings loudly and long, - my low sound of weeping disturbs not his song, As thy vow did, that day. I stand by the river, I think of the vow; Oh, calm as the place is, vow-breaker, be thou! I leave the flower growing, the bird unreproved; Would I trouble thee ratherh than them, my beloved, - And my lover that day? Go, be sure of my love, by that treason forgiven; Of my prayers, by the blessings they win thee from Heaven; Of my gief - (guess the lenght of the sword by the sheath's) By the silence of life, more pathetic than death's! Go, - be clear of that day!
A. Nicholson sets stanzas 1-3
Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), "That day", appears in Poems, Volume II, first published 1844 [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 Alfred Nicholson , "That day", stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], London: Addison & Hollier [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wilbraham John Tollemache , "That day", published [1889] [ voice and piano ], London: Novello [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-04-21
Line count: 20
Word count: 179