by Arlo Bates (1850 - 1918)
The Wild Briar
Language: English
The wild-briar dabbles his finger-tips In the wine till they are red ; Then over the hedge he climbs and slips, And kisses the wild rose on the lips Till blushing she bows her head. The wild-briar clambers from spray to spray, For an ardent wooer he ; But once he has won, he hastes away, Nor tears nor prayers avail to stay His fickle fancy free. The wild-briar riots the thicket through, Like a wanton, lusty faun ; He strings for the cedar berries blue. He vows to the alder homage true, He sighs to woo the dawn ! For the fire of love and the fire of youth Fill his veins with zest divine ; Till winter has seized him without ruth, And thickets are bare ; oh, then, in sooth, He longs for spring's glad wine !
Authorship:
- by Arlo Bates (1850 - 1918), "The Wild Briar", appears in The Poet and His Self, in A Flower Cycle, no. 4, first published 1892 [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 George Whitefield Chadwick (1854 - 1931), "The Wild Briar", 1892 [ voice and piano ], from A Flower Cycle, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-06-17
Line count: 20
Word count: 140