Bright, o bright Fedalma

Maiden, crowned with glossy blackness,
  Lithe as panther forest-roaming,
Long-armed naiad, when she dances
  On a stream of ether floating, --
    Bright, O bright Fedalma!

Form all curves like softness drifted,
  Wave-kissed marble roundly dimpling,
Far-off music slowly wingèd,
  Gently rising, gently sinking, --
    Bright, O bright Fedalma!

Pure as rain-tear on a rose-leaf,
  Cloud high-born in noonday spotless
Sudden perfect [as]1 the dew-bead,
  Gem of earth and sky begotten, --
    Bright, O bright Fedalma!

Beauty has no mortal father,
  Holy light her form engendered,
Out of tremor, yearning, gladness,
  Presage sweet, and joy remembered, --
    Child of light, Fedalma!

by Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880) , under the pseudonym George Eliot, no title, from The Spanish Gypsy, published 1868

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

by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) , "Bright, o bright Fedalma", op. 1 no. 7, from Eight songs from "The Spanish Gypsy", no. 7.

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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