by Ina Donna Coolbrith (1842 - 1928)
Meadow‑Larks
Language: English
Sweet, sweet, sweet! O happy that I am! (Listen to the meadow-larks, across the fields that sing!) Sweet, sweet, sweet! O subtle breath of balm, O winds that blow, O buds that grow, O rapture of the spring! Sweet, sweet, sweet! O skies serene and blue, That shut the radiant pastures in, that fold the mountain's crest! Sweet, sweet, sweet! What of the clouds ye knew? The vessels ride a golden tide Upon a sea at rest. Sweet, sweet, sweet! Who prates of care and pain? Who says that life is sorrowful? O life, so glad, so fleet! Ah! he who leads the noblest life Finds life the noblest gain, The tears of pain a tender rain To make its waters sweet. Sweet, sweet, sweet! O happy world that is! Dear heart! I hear across the fields my mateling pipe and call. Sweet, sweet, sweet! O world so full of bliss, O world so full of bliss! For life is love, the world is love, And love is over all, For life is love, the world is love, And love is over all!
Text Authorship:
- by Ina Donna Coolbrith (1842 - 1928) [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 Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 - 1944), "Meadow-Larks", op. 78 (Three Songs) no. 1, published 1917 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 36
Word count: 183