by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 - 1909)
Kissing her hair I sat against her feet
Language: English
Kissing her hair I sat against her feet, Wove and unwove it, wound and found it sweet; Made fast therewith her hands, drew down her eyes, Deep as deep flowers and dreamy like dim skies; With her own tresses bound and found her fair, Kissing her hair. Sleep were no sweeter than her face to me, Sleep of cold sea-bloom under the cold sea; What pain could get between my face and hers? What new sweet thing would love not relish worse? Unless, perhaps, white death had kissed me there, Kissing her hair?
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Text Authorship:
- by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 - 1909), "Rondel", appears in Poems and Ballads, first published 1866 [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 Bergh (1882 - 1962), "Kissing her hair I sat against her feet", published 1939 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Rondel", 1895-1896, first performed 1906 [ alto or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-27
Line count: 12
Word count: 94