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by Amy Lowell (1874 - 1925)

Fireworks
Language: English 
You hate me and I hate you,
And we are so polite, we too!

But whenever I see you I burst apart
And scatter the sky with my blazing heart.
It spits and sparkles in stars and balls,
Buds into roses, and flares and falls.

Scarlet buttons, and pale green disks,
Silver spirals and asterisks,
Shoot and tremble in a mist
Peppered with mauve and amethyst.

I shine in the window and light up the trees,
And all because I hate you, if you please.

And when you meet me, you rend asunder
And go up in a flaming wonder
Of saffron cubes, and crimson moons,
And wheels all amaranths and maroons.

Golden lozenges and spades,
Arrows of malachites and jades,
Patens of copper, azure sheaves.
As you mount you flash in the glossy leaves.

Such fireworks as we make, we two!
Because you hate me and I hate you.

Confirmed with Wild Nights: Heart Wisdom from Five Women Poets, Dover Publications, 2018


Text Authorship:

  • by Amy Lowell (1874 - 1925), "Fireworks" [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 Grace-Evangeline Mason (b. 1994), "Fireworks", 2018, first performed 2018 [ soprano and orchestra ], Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-04-09
Line count: 22
Word count: 150

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