by John Keats (1795 - 1821)
I had a dove and the sweet dove died
Language: English
I had a dove and the sweet dove died; And I have thought it died of grieving: O, what could it grieve for? Its feet were tied, With a silken thread of my own hand's weaving; Sweet little red feet! why should you die -- Why should you leave me, sweet bird! why? You lived alone in the forest tree, Why, pretty thing! would you not live with me? I kissed you oft and gave you white peas: Why not live sweetly, as in the green trees?
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Text Authorship:
- by John Keats (1795 - 1821), "Song", appears in Life, Letters, and Literary Remains, of John Keats, volume II, first published 1848 [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 Carl Reinhold Busch (1862 - 1943), "I had a dove", published 1902 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "The dove", published 1954 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gideon Fagan , "I had a dove", published 1931 [ voice and piano ], also set in Afrikaanse with the title "Die Duifie" [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Charles William) Eric Fogg (1903 - 1939), "The dove", published 1924 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Benjamin Frankel (1906 - 1973), "I had a dove" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jessie Lillian Furze (1903 - 1984), "I had a dove", published 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael (Dewar) Head (1900 - 1976), "The dove", published 1969 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marjorie Helyer , "The dove", published 1956 [ SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ivy Frances Klein, née Salaman (b. 1895), "I had a dove", published 1926 [ voice and piano ], from Two songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by T. C. L. Pritchard , "I had a dove", published 1925 [ voice and piano ], from Six songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael Purves-Smith (b. 1945), "Song", 2006 [ SABar chorus and obbligato violin ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Landon Ronald, Sir (1873 - 1938), "The dove", published 1905 [ voice and piano ], from In Sunshine and Shadow [sung text not yet checked]
- by Judith Weir (b. 1954), "Sweet little red feet", 2003 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from The Voice of Desire, no. 4, Chester Music Ltd [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Felix Harold White (1884 - 1945), "I had a dove", published 1925 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "My dove", published 1923 [ 2-part chorus and piano ], partson [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Francis Young , "The dove", published 1959 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 86