by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940)
Thou comest, May
Language: English
Thou comest, May, with leaves and flowers, And nights grow short, and days grow long And for thy sake in bush and tree, The small birds sing, both old and young ; And only I am dumb and wait The passing of a fish-like state. You birds, you old grandfathers now, That have such power to welcome spring, I, but a father in my years, Have nothing in my mind to sing ; My lips, like gills in deep-sea homes, Beat time, and still no music comes.
Text Authorship:
- by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940), "Thou comest, May", appears in Child Lovers and other Poems, first published 1916 [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 Wynn Hunt (b. 1910), "Thou comest, May" [bass-baritone and piano], from W. H. Davies Song Cycle [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 85