Le jardin

The lily's withered chalice falls 
Around its rod of dusty gold, 
And from the beech-trees on the wold 
The last wood-pigeon coos and calls. 

The gaudy leonine sunflower 
Hangs black and barren on its stalk, 
And down the windy garden walk 
The dead leaves scatter, -- hour by hour. 

Pale privet-petals white as milk 
Are blown into a snowy mass: 
The roses lie upon the grass 
Like little shreds of crimson silk.

by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) , "Le jardin", from Our Continent, Feb. 1882 as one of the "Impressions"

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

by Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920) , "Le jardin", A. 38 (1915), published 1970 [soprano or tenor and piano], from Four Impressions, no. 1.
by Harold Vincent Jervis-Read (1883-1945) , "The garden", published 1911 [voice and piano], also set in German (translation by Maurice Fanshawe), from Four Impressions

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