by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Maria
Language: English
On yon stone by a brook poor Maria oft sat, As her dog she held fast by a string; She pensively sigh'd at the hard hand of fate, While her pipe made the vocal woods ring. Ah pity, Maria, she plaintively cried; Ah pity, Maria, kind echo replied And lengthen'd her sad tale of grief; A tear would oft fall as she gazed on a book Or mournfully walking beside the clear brook And give her sad bosom relief. Ah, Henry, why faithless? Why leave me to pine And thus turn a deaf ear to my prayer? Why leave this fond heart, which so long has been thine, The victim of love and despair? Return, ah, return to Maria, she cried; Return, ah, return, still kind echo replied And join'd thus her loss to deplore, But Henry, who panted for riches and fame, Long since had selected a wealthier dame, for, though fair, yet Maria was poor. Her form, once so graceful, now emblem of death, The roses her cheeks had forsook; The place she so lov'd, there she yielded her breath With a sigh on the stone by the brook. Ah, pity Maria, each nymph softly cried; Ah, pity Maria, kind echo replied, As lifeless they bore her along; Her dirge, ah so mournful each lover did sing, No age or no sex, but they tribute did bring And plaintively join'd in the song.
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Addison (b. 1920), "Maria" [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2020-11-26
Line count: 30
Word count: 235