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by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933)

Wishes
Language: English 
Choose for Diff
I wish for such a lot of things
That never will come true —
And yet I want them all so much
I think they might, don't you?
I want a little kitty-cat
That's soft and tame and sweet,
And every day I watch and hope
I'll find one in the street.
But nursie says, "Come, walk along,
"Don't stand and stare like that" —
I'm only looking hard and hard
To try to find my cat.
And then I want a blue balloon
That tries to fly away,
I thought if I wished hard enough
That it would come some day.
One time when I was in the park
I knew that it would be
Beside the big old clock at home
A-waiting there for me —
And soon as we got home again,
I hurried thro' the hall,
And looked beside the big old clock —
It wasn't there at all.
I think I'll never wish again —
But then, what shall I do?
The wishes are a lot of fun
Altho' they don't come true.

Confirmed with Sara Teasdale, Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems, Boston : The Poet Lore Company, 1907, p.33


Text Authorship:

  • by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Wishes", appears in Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems [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 Johannes Boris Borowski (b. 1979), "Wishes", 2023-24 [ voice and piano ], from Songs after poems by Sara Teasdale, no. 4, Berlin : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]

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

This text was added to the website: 2026-08-04
Line count: 28
Word count: 178

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