Four Ladies (Pound, set by D. Diamond) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


Agathas
 Four and forty lovers had Agathas in the old days,
 All of whom she refused;

 And now she turns to me seeking love,
 And her hair also is turning.

Young Lady
 I have fed your lar with poppies,
 I have adored you for three full years;
 And now you grumble because your dress does not fit
 And because I happen to say so.

Lesbia Illa
 Memnon, Memnon, that lady
 Who used to walk about amongst us
 With such gracious uncertainty,
 Is now wedded
 To a British householder.
 Lugete, Veneres! Lugete, Cupidinesque!

Passing
 Flawless as Aphrodite,
 Thoroughly beautiful,
 Brainless,
 The faint odor of your patchouli,
 Faint, almost, as the lines of cruelty about your chin,
 Assails me, and concerns me almost as little.

Authorship

Ezra Pound (1885-1972)

Poetry

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

David Leo Diamond (1915-2005)

Date added to the website: 2008-07-21.

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