I sometimes hold it half a sin

I sometimes hold it half a sin
   To put in words the grief I feel;
   For words, like Nature, half reveal
And half conceal the Soul within.

But, for the unquiet heart and brain,
   A use in measured language lies;
   The sad mechanic exercise,
Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.

In words, like weeds, I'll wrap me o'er,
   Like coarsest clothes against the cold:
   But that large grief which these enfold
Is given in outline and no more.

by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) , no title, 1849, from In Memoriam A. H. H. obiit MDCCCXXXIII, no. 5, published 1850

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

by Maude Valérie White (1855-1937) , "I sometimes hold it half a sin", published 1885. [voice and piano]

Date added to the website: 2009-01-12.

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