The shepherdess

She walks -- the lady of my delight -- 
   A shepherdess of sheep.
Her flocks are thoughts. She keeps them white;
   She guards them from the steep;
She feeds them on the fragrant height,
   And folds them in for sleep.
 
She roams maternal hills and bright,
   Dark valleys safe and deep.
Into that tender breast at night
   The chastest stars may peep.
She walks -- the lady of my delight -- 
   A shepherdess of sheep.
 
She holds her little thoughts in sight,
   Though gay they run and leap.
She is so circumspect and right;
   She has her soul to keep.
She walks -- the lady of my delight -- 
   A shepherdess of sheep.

by Alice Christina Meynell, née Thompson (1847-1922) , "The shepherdess", from Later Poems, published 1902

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

by Ivor Algernon Atkins (1869-1953) , "The shepherdess", published c1922. [voice and piano]
by Stanley R. Avery (1879-?) , "The shepherdess", published <<1929. [high voice and piano]
by Alice M. Bleadon , "The shepherdess", published <<1940 [voice and piano], from Two songs, no. ?
by Margaret Campbell Bruce , "The shepherdess", published 1952 [tenor or unison voices and piano], note: may be incorrect text for this title
by Greville Cook , "The shepherdess", published <<1940.
by Victor Edward Galway , "The shepherdess of sheep", published 1937. [SATB chorus a cappella]
by Edward Horsman (1873-1918) , "The shepherdess", published <<1929. [voice and piano]
by Wynn Hunt (1910-) , "The shepherdess" [SATB chorus and piano]
by Dermot MacMurrough , "The shepherdess", published 1924. [voice and piano]
by Reginald Chauncey Robbins (1871-1955) , "The shepherdess", published c1922. [bass or alto or baritone and piano]
by Sir Hugh Stevenson Roberton (1874-1952) , "The shepherdess", published 1917. [SSA chorus a cappella]
by Lionel Salter (1914-) , "The shepherdess", published 1947. [tenor and piano or orchestra]
by David Stanley Smith (1877-1949) , "The lady of the lambs", published <<1940.
by Bryceson Treharne (1879-1948) , "The lady of my delight", published <<1940.
by Harold Ernest Watts , "The shepherdess", published 1938. [SA or SS chorus and piano]

Date added to the website: 2009-02-02.

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