Something childish, but very natural

If I had but two little wings
And were a little feathery bird,
To you I'd fly, my dear!
But thoughts like these are idle things,
And I stay here.

But in my sleep to you I fly:
I'm always with you in my sleep!
The world is all one's own.
But then one wakes, and where am I?
All, all alone.

Sleep stays not, though a monarch bids:
So I love to wake ere break of day:
For though my sleep be gone,
Yet while 'tis dark, one shuts one's lids,
And still dreams on.

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) , under the pseudonym "Cordomi", "Something childish, but very natural"

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

by Edgar Leslie Bainton (1880-1956) , "If I had but two little wings", published 1928. [partsong for men's voices and piano]
by John Francis Barnett (1837-1916) , "If I had but two little wings", published 1903, first performed 1878. [madrigal for SATB chorus a cappella]
by (William) Havergal Brian (1876-1972) , "If I had but two little wings", published 1914. [SA chorus and piano]
by Franklin Morris Class (1881-1926) , "If I had but two little wings", published 1905. [medium voice and piano]
by Edward Francis Fitzwilliam (1824-1857) , "If I had but two little wings", published 1856. [alto and piano]
by (Charles William) Eric Fogg (1903-1939) , "If I had but two little wings", published 1928. [high voice and piano]
by Hubert James Foss (1899-1953) , "If I had but two little wings", published 1937. [unison voices and piano]
by J. Maynard Glover , "If I had but two little wings", published 1924. [voice and piano]
by Fred Gostelow , "Dream thoughts", published 1900. [high voice and piano]
by Louis Arthur Hamand , "If I had but two little wings", published 1912. [partsong for men's voices a cappella]
by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874-1949) , "If in my sleep to you I fly", 1899. [voice and piano]
by Ellis Ingleby , "If I had but two little wings", published 1887. [high voice and piano]
by George Herbert Jones , "If I had but two little wings", published 1929. [canon for SS chorus and piano]
by Liza Lehmann (1862-1918) , "If I had but two little wings", <<1918, published 1921. [voice and piano]
by Harvey Löhr , "A love dream", published 1882. [medium voice and piano]
by George W. Marston (1840-1901) , "If I had but two little wings", published 1868 [voice and piano], note: according to Gooch and Thatcher Musical Settings of British Romantic Literature, the text is incorrectly attributed on the score to P. B. Shelley
by L. C. Maurer , "If I had but two little wings", published 1928.
by Hubert S. Middleton , "If I had but two little wings", published 1956. [medium-high voice and piano]
by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) , "If I had but two little wings", published 1897 [partsong for SATB chorus and piano], from Six Modern Lyrics, no. ?
by Henry Perabeau , "If I had but two little wings", published 1867. [soprano or tenor and piano]
by Cyril Bradley Rootham (1875-1938) , "If I had but two little wings", 1925. [voice and piano]
by Henry Thomas Smart (1813-1879) , "If I had but two little wings", published 1879. [partsong for SATB chorus and piano]

by August Todt , "Wär ich ein Vögelein", 1883. [vocal duet with piano]

Date added to the website: 2009-01-29.

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