by Alfred Bruce Douglas, Lord (1870 - 1945)
The green river
Language: English
I know a green grass path that leaves the field And, like a running river, winds along Into a leafy wood, where is no throng Of birds at noon-day; and no soft throats yield Their music to the moon. The place is sealed, An unclaimed sovereignty of voiceless song, And all th' unravished silences belong To some sweet singer lost, or unrevealed. So is my soul become a silent place. Oh, may I wake from this uneasy night To find some voice of music manifold. Let it be shape of sorrow with wan face, Or love, that swoons on sleep, or else delight That is as wide-eyed as a marigold.
Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Bruce Douglas, Lord (1870 - 1945), "The green river", appears in Sonnets by Lord Alfred Douglas, first published 1909 [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 Robert Fairfax Birch (b. 1917), "The green river" [text not verified]
- by John Alden Carpenter (1876 - 1951), "The green river", published 1912 [voice and piano], from Eight Songs, no. 1. [text verified 1 time]
- by William Reginald Pasfield (1909 - 1994), "The green river", published 1960. [voice and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this page: Geoffrey Wieting
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 110