The fairies' dance (Sherman, set by M. Head) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


Once in the morning when the breeze
Set all the leaves astir,
And music floated from the trees
As from a dulcimer,
I saw the roses one by one,
Bow gracefully as though
A fairy dance were just begun
Upon the ground below.

The lilies white beside the walks,
Like ladies fair and tall
Together joined, in whispered talk
About a fairies' ball
The slender grasses waved along
The garden path, and I
could almost hear the fairies' song
When blew the light wind by.

I waited there till noon to hear
The elfin music sweet,
I saw the servant bees appear
In golden jackets neat;
And though I wished just once to see
The happy little elves,
They were so much afraid of me
Thy never showed themselves.

Authorship

Frank Dempster Sherman (1860-1916)

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)

Three songs of fantasy

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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