Byron! how sweetly sad thy melody!

Byron! how sweetly sad thy melody! 
Attuning still the soul to tenderness, 
As if soft Pity, with unusual stress, 
Had touch'd her plaintive lute, and thou, being by, 
Hadst caught the tones, nor suffer'd them to die. 
O'ershadowing sorrow doth not make thee less 
Delightful: thou thy griefs dost dress 
With a bright halo, shining beamily, 
As when a cloud the golden moon doth veil, 
Its sides are ting'd with a resplendent glow, 
Through the dark robe oft amber rays prevail, 
And like fair veins in sable marble flow; 
Still warble, dying swan! still tell the tale, 
The enchanting tale, the tale of pleasing woe.

by John Keats (1795-1821) , no title, from Life, Letters, and Literary Remains, of John Keats, published 1848

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

by Joseph (or Josef) Charles Holbrooke (1878-1958) , "Byron! how sweetly sad thy melody!", published 1904. [chorus and orchestra]
by Quinto Maganini (1897-1974) , "Sonnet to Byron", published 1943 [medium-high voice and orchestra], from Four Orchestral Songs, no. ?

Date added to the website: 2009-02-15.

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