In Cherry Valley the cherries blow:
The valley paths are white as snow.

And in their time with clusters red
The [scented]1 boughs are crimsonèd.

[Even now the moon]2 is looking thro'
The glimmer of the honey dew.

A petal trembles to the grass,
The feet of fairies pass and pass.

By them, I know, all beauty comes
To me, a habitan of slums.

I sing no rune, I say no line:
The gift of second sight is mine!

R. Quilter sets stanzas 1-4

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Quilter: "heavy"
² Quilter: "Now the low moon"

Text Authorship:

• by Joseph Campbell (1881 - 1944), as Seosamh MacCathmhaoil, "Cherry Valley", appears in The Mountainy Singer, first published 1909 [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 Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Cherry Valley", op. 22 no. 2 (1920), published 1921, stanzas 1-4 [ low voice, optional violin and violoncello, and piano ], from Three pastoral songs, no. 2, London, Elkin [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• GER German (Deutsch) (Beate Binnig) , "Kirschtal", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Alvin Kho

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-19
Line count: 12
Word count: 79