I'm a lean dog, a keen dog, a wild dog, and lone (McLeod, set by M. Head, S. Homer) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


 I'm a lean dog, a keen dog, a wild dog, and lone;
 I'm a rough dog, a tough dog, hunting on my own;
 I'm a bad dog, a mad dog, teasing silly sheep;
 I love to sit and bay the moon, to keep fat souls from sleep.

 I'll never be a lap dog, licking dirty feet,
 A sleek dog, a meek dog, cringing for my meat,
 Not for me the fireside, the well-filled plate,
 But shut the door, and sharp stone, and cuff, and kick, and hate.

 Not for me the other dogs, running by my side,
 Some have run a short while, but none of them would bide.
 O mine is still the lone trail, the hard trail, the best,
 Wide wind, and wild stars, and the hunger of the quest!

Authorship

Irene Rutherford McLeod (1891-?)

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

Michael Head (1900-1976)

Sidney Homer (1864-1953)

Four Modern Poems

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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