A glimpse, through an interstice caught (Whitman, set by N. Rorem, F. Delius) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


[A glimpse, through an interstice caught,]¹
Of a crowd of workmen and drivers in a bar-room, 
around the stove, late of a winter night -- 
And I unremark'd seated in a corner;	 
Of a youth who loves me, and whom I love, 
silently approaching, and seating himself near, 
that he may hold me by the hand;	 
A long while, amid the noises of coming and going -- 
of drinking and oath and smutty jest,	 
There we two, content, happy in being together, 
speaking little, perhaps not a word.

View text without footnotes
¹ Rorem: "One fitting glimpse caught through an interstice"

Input by Ahmed E. Ismail

Authorship

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

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

Frederick Delius (1862-1934)

Idyll

Ned Rorem (1923-)

Evidence of Things Not Seen

Date added to the website: 2004-08-04.

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