The thistles on the sandy flats Are courtiers with crimson hats; The ragworts, growing up so straight, Are emperors who stand in state, And march about, so proud and bold, In crowns of fairy-story gold. The people passing home at night Rejoice to see the shining [sight]1; They quite [forget]2 the sands and sea Which are as grey as grey can be, Nor even [heed]3 the gulls who cry Like peevish children in the sky.
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Bliss: "light"
2 Bliss: "forgot"
3 Bliss: "heard"
Text Authorship:
- by Frances Cornford (1886 - 1960), "The ragwort", appears in Poems, first published 1910 [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 Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, Sir (1891 - 1975), "The ragwort", 1921, published 1921, first performed 1921 [ soprano, clarinet, and piano ], from Two Nursery Rhymes, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 75