by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834)
Translation
Birdspeak
Language: English  after the English
Do you ask what the birds say? The Sparrow, the Dove, The Linnet and Thrush say "I love and I love!" But the Lark is so brimful of gladness and love, The green fields below him, the blue sky above, That he sings, and he sings; and forever sings he -- "I love my Love, and my Love loves me!" In the winter they're silent -- the wind is so strong; What it says, I don't know, but it sings a loud song. But green leaves, and blossoms, and sunny warm weather, And singing and loving -- all come back together. The Sparrow, the Dove, The Linnet and Thrush say "I love and I love!" Did you ask what the birds say?
The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on
- a text in English by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834), "Answer to a child's question"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "Birdspeak" [voice and piano], from Eternal Summer, no. 13 [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Mike Pearson
This text was added to the website: 2015-02-06
Line count: 13
Word count: 119