Desire in Spring (Ledwidge, set by I. Gurney, R. Faith) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


I love the cradle-songs the mothers sing
   In lonely places when the twilight drops,
The slow, endearing melodies that bring
   Sleep to the weeping lids; and, when she stops,
   I love the roadside birds upon the tops
Of dusty hedges in a world of Spring.
And when the sunny rain drips from the edge
   Of mid-day wind, and meadows lean one way,
And a long whisper passes thro' the sedge,
   Beside the broken water let me stay,
   While these old airs upon my memory play,
And silent changes colour up the hedge.

Input by Ted Perry

Authorship

Francis Ledwidge (1891-1917)

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

Richard Bruce Faith (1926-)

Ivor Gurney (1890-1937)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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