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by William Dean Howells (1837 - 1920)

The summer sun was soft and bland
Language: English 
The summer sun was soft and bland,
As they went through the meadow land.
Across the stream was scarce a step,
And yet she feared to try the leap;
And he to still her sweet alarm,
Must lift her over on his arm.
She could not keep the narrow way,
For still the little feet would stray,
And ever must he bend t'undo
The tangled grasses from her shoe,
From dainty rosebud lips in pout,
Must kiss the perfect flower out!
Ah, little coquette! Fair deceit!
Some things are bitter that were sweet.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by William Dean Howells (1837 - 1920), "Through the meadows", appears in Poems, first published 1873 [author's text not yet checked 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 Edward Alexander MacDowell (1860 - 1908), "Through the meadow", op. 47 no. 8, published 1893, from Eight Love Songs, no. 8. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 93

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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