by Arlo Bates (1850 - 1918)
I said to the wind of the south
Language: English
I said to the wind of the south: "O gentle southwind, blow! Bear kisses to his mouth and greet him from me so!" The gentle southwind blew with softly mournful sound; o'er hill and dale it blew, but my love it never found. O love, dear love, so long away, while I am lone, where dost thou stray? I said to the wind of the west: "O sweetest westwind, make haste and waken in his breast longing, my lips to taste." The westwind swiftly sped with sobbing mournful sound; ah, thou canst not be dead, then why art thou not found? O love, dear love, so long away, come, for I die if you delay!
Authorship:
- by Arlo Bates (1850 - 1918), appears in Told in the Gate, first published 1892 [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 George Whitefield Chadwick (1854 - 1931), "I said to the wind of the south", from Lyrics from "Told in the Gate", no. 11 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2020-04-20
Line count: 20
Word count: 115