Requiescat

Tread lightly, she is near
Under the snow,
Speak gently, she can hear
The daisies grow.

All her bright golden hair
Tarnished with rust,
She that was young and fair
Fallen to dust.

Lily-like, white as snow,
She hardly knew
She was a woman so
Sweetly she grew.

Coffin-board, heavy stone,
Lie on her breast.
I vex my heart alone,
She is at rest.

Peace, Peace, she cannot hear
Lyre or sonnet,
All my life's buried here,
Heap earth upon it.

by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) , "Requiescat", from Poems, published 1881

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

by Gary Bachlund , "Requiescat", 2009. [baritone and piano]
by Howard Leake Boatwright (1918-1999) , "Requiescat", from Five Early Songs, no. 1.
by George Sainton Kaye Butterworth (1885-1916) , "Requiescat", published 1920. [voice and piano]
by Kathleen Blair Clarke , "Requiescat", published <<1940. [voice and piano]
by Henry Clough-Leighter (1874-1956) , "Requiescat", op. 57 no. 6, published <<1940. [voice and piano]
by George Cory (1920?-) , "Requiescat", published 1951 [medium voice and piano], from Four Settings of British Poets, no. ?
by Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975) , "Tread lightly, she is near", published 1960. [SATB chorus, children's chorus, and orchestra]
by Charles Trowbridge Haubiel (1892-1978) , "Requiescat", published 1937 [SSAA and two pianos (or orchestra, or orchestra with harp)]], from L'amore spiritual, no. ?
by Harold Vincent Jervis-Read (1883-1945) , "At rest", op. 21, first performed 1910.
by Robert William Jones (1932-) , "Requiescat" [tenor and piano]
by George Frederick McKay (1899-1970) , "Requiescat"
by Thomas Pasatieri (1945-) , "Requiescat", 1998 [voice and piano], from Three Poems of Oscar Wilde, no. 3.
by Ned Rorem (1923-) , "Requiescat", 1997, published 1999, from Evidence of Things Not Seen, no. 22.
by Evelyn Sharpe , "Requiescat", published 1925. [voice and piano]
by David Van Vactor (1906-) , "Requiescat", published 1944 [voice and piano], from Vocal Works
by Gordon Ellsworth Young (1919-) , "Requiescat", published 1954. [medium voice and piano]

by Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) , "Requiescat", op. 15 no. 2 (1914) [alto and piano], from Rosa Mystica, no. 2.

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