by William Watson, Sir (1858 - 1935)
When birds were songless on the bough
Language: English
When birds were songless on the bough I heard thee sing. The world was full of winter, thou Wert full of spring. To-day the world's heart feels anew The vernal thrill, And thine beneath the rueful yew Is wintry chill.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Watson, Sir (1858 - 1935), "When birds were songless", appears in Wordsworth's Grave and Other Poems, first published 1891, rev. 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 Percy Lee Atherton (1871 - 1944), "When birds were songless on the bough", op. 16 (Two Poems by W. Watson) no. 2, published 1905 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederick C. Nicholls (1871 - ?), "When birds were songless", published 1902, from Two songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-21
Line count: 8
Word count: 40