by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)
Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the...
Language: English
Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white; [Nor]1 waves the cypress in the palace walk; [Nor]1 winks the gold fin in the porphyry font: The fire-fly wakens: waken thou with me. Now droops the milk-white peacock like a ghost, And like a ghost she glimmers on to me. Now lies the earth all Danaë to the stars, And all thy heart lies open unto me. Now slides the silent meteor on, and leaves A shining furrow, as thy thoughts in me. Now folds the lily all her sweetness up, And slips into the bosom of the lake: So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip Into my bosom and be lost in me.
Available sung texts: ← What is this?
• H. Burleigh • D. Holman • G. Holst • P. Mealor • P. Moore • R. Quilter • N. RoremR. Quilter sets lines 1-4, 11-14
G. Holst sets lines 1-8
H. Burleigh sets lines 1-4, 11-14
P. Mealor sets stanzas 1-3, 5
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Lord Alfred Tennyson, The Princess, part IV, Project Gutenberg, 2008 (updated 2013).
1 Burleigh: "Now"Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, written c1847, appears in The Princess, first published 1847 [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Now sleeps the crimson petal", 1943, published 1989 [ tenor, horn and strings ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Harry Thacker Burleigh (1866 - 1949), "Now sleeps the crimson petal", published 1908, copyright © 1908, lines 1-4,11-14 [ voice and piano ], New York: William Maxwell [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Derek Holman (b. 1931), "Now sleeps the crimson petal", first performed 2007 [ vocal duet with piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "Now sleeps the crimson petal ", op. 20a no. 6, H. 80 no. 6, lines 1-8 [ chorus ], from Songs from The Princess, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Paul Mealor (b. 1975), "Now sleeps the crimson petal", stanzas 1-3,5 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Philip Moore (b. 1943), "Summer night" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Now sleeps the crimson petal", op. 3 (Three songs) no. 2 (1897), published 1904, rev. 1946, lines 1-4,11-14 [ voice and piano ], Boosey [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "Now sleeps the crimson petal" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Adolf Strodtmann (1829 - 1879) , no title, appears in Lieder- und Balladenbuch amerikanischer und englischer Dichter der Gegenwart, in Lieder aus "Die Prinzessin", no. 1, first published 1862 ; composed by Heinrich Zöllner.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ida Goldschmidt, née Livingston (1863 - 1933) ; composed by Roger Quilter.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (José Miguel Llata) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 114