To one who has been long in city pent

To one who has been long in city pent,
  'Tis very sweet to look into the fair
  And open face of heaven, -- to breathe a prayer
Full in the smile of the blue firmament.
Who is more happy, when, with hearts content,
  Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair
  Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair
And gentle tale of love and languishment?
Returning home at evening, with an ear
  Catching the notes of Philomel, -- an eye
Watching the sailing cloudlet's bright career,
  He mourns that day so soon has glided by:
E'en like the passage of an angel's tear
  That falls through the clear ether silently.

by John Keats (1795-1821) , no title, from Poems, published 1817

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 (1917-) , "In the fields", published 1953. [voice and piano]
by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) , "To one who has been long in city pent", published 1955. [TTBB chorus a cappella]
by William Pearson (fl. 1954) , "Angel thoughts", published 1954. [SSA chorus and piano]
by Solomon Pimsleur (1900-1962) , "Communion with Nature", 1927-8 [alto, bass, and string quartet or string orchestra], from Sonnet-Tableau, no. ?
by Alan Richardson , "Sonnet: To one who has been long in city pent", published 1939. [mezzo-soprano and piano]

ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani)

Date added to the website: 2009-02-13.

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