by Katharine Tynan (1861 - 1931)
Give me no mansions ivory white
Language: English
Give me no mansions ivory white, Nor palaces of pearl and gold; Give me a child for all delight Just four years old. Give me no wings of rosy shine, Nor snowy raiment, fold on fold, Give me a little boy all mine Just four years old. Give me no gold and starry crown, Nor harps, nor palm-branches unrolled, Give me a nestling head of brown Just four years old. Give me a cheek that's like the peach, Two arms to clasp me from the cold; And all my heaven's within my reach Just four years old. Dear God, You give me from Your skies A little Paradise to hold, As Mary once her Paradise, Just four years old.
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Text Authorship:
- by Katharine Tynan (1861 - 1931), "The desire", appears in Innocencies: A Book of Verse, first published 1905 [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 Hermann Frederic Löhr (1872 - 1943), "Four years old", published 1908 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-21
Line count: 20
Word count: 119