Mirage

The hope I dreamed of was a dream,
  Was but a dream; and now I wake,
Exceeding comfortless, and worn, and old,
  For a dream's sake.

I hang my harp upon a tree,
  A weeping willow in a lake;
I hang my silent harp there, wrung and snapt
  For a dream's sake.

Lie still, lie still, my breaking heart;
  My silent heart, lie still and break: 
Life, and the world, and [mine]1 own self, are changed
  For a dream's sake.

by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894) , "Mirage", from Goblin Market and other Poems, published 1862

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

by Renato Cellini , "Mirage", published 1955. [medium voice, piano]
by John Chorbajian (1936-) , "Mirage", published 1970. [four-part mixed chorus a cappella]
by John Harvey Clements (1910-) , "Mirage", published 1952. [voice, piano]
by Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen (1852-1935) , "For a dream's sake", published c1895? [voice, piano]
by Charles Edward Ives (1874-1954) , "Mirage", 1902, published 1921, stanzas 1, 3 (lines 2-4 only). [voice, piano]
by Arthur Walter Kramer (1890-1969) , "For a dream's sake", published 1914. [voice, piano]
by Alfred Kunz (1929-) , "Mirage", published 1966 [SATB, piano], from Will you come?
by S. E. Lovatt , "Mirage", published 1949. [SATB a cappella]
by William Henry Reed (1876-1942) , "Mirage", published 1911. [mezzo-soprano or baritone, piano]
by Cyril Meir Scott (1879-1970) , "For a dream's sake", 1912. [voice, piano]

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Classical Vocal Repertoire