Where is beauty? Gone, gone: The cold winds have taken it With their faint moan; The white stars have shaken it, Trembling down, Into the pathless deeps of the sea. Gone, gone Is beauty from me. The clear naked flower Is faded and dead; The green-leafed willow, Drooping her head, Whispers low to the shade Of her boughs in the stream, Sighing a beauty, Secret as dream.
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Confirmed with Peacock Pie. A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., [1920], page 168.
Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "The song of the secret", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 8. Songs, no. 1, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Song of the secret", 2006 [ medium-high voice, piano ], from Pieces of Peacock Pie, no. 12 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Herbert Norman Howells (1892 - 1983), "The song of the secret", from A Garland for de la Mare, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by George Norman Peterkin (1886 - 1982), "The song of secret", published 1935 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "Where is beauty?", published 1943 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Peacock Pie [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-04-25
Line count: 17
Word count: 67