Rain Thunder of the Rain God: And we three Smitten by beauty. Thunder of the Rain God: And we three Weary, weary. Thunder of the Rain God: And you, she, and I Waiting for nothingness. Do you understand the stillness Of this house In Taos Under the thunder of the Rain God? Sun That there should be a barren garden About this house in Taos Is not so strange, But that there should be three barren hearts In this one house in Taos -- Who carries ugly things to show the sun? Moon Did you ask for the beaten brass of the moon? We can buy lovely things with money, You, she, and I, Yet you seek, As though you could keep, This unbought loveliness of moon. Wind Touch our bodies, wind. Our bodies are separate, individual things. Touch our bodies, wind, But blow quickly Through the red, white, yellow skins Of our bodies To the terrible snarl, Not mine, Not yours, Not hers, But all one snarl of souls. Blow quickly, wind, Before we run back Into the windlessness -- With our bodies -- Into the windlessness Of our house in Taos.
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Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), "A house in Taos" [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 Robert Owens (1925 - 2017), "A house in Taos ", op. 29 no. 1 [ baritone and piano ], from Mortal Storm, no. 1, with a German translation by E. Berghöfer-Engen [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-10-26
Line count: 46
Word count: 186