Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2010.01.0006 |
Object Name |
Poem |
Date |
1899 |
Title |
The Singer of Songs |
Scope & Content |
A poem written by Robert Burns Wilson for Mary Mason Scott in September 1899. The poem is two pages long. The first three stanzas are on the first page. The last stanza is on the second page along with Wilson's signature. [Transcription] The Singer of Songs Dost thou know - O singer of songs? - Be thy songs of the beauty of earth - of the leaf and the tree - Of the winds and the mists and the clouded miraculous skies: To the charm of the fields - to the glory and strength of the sea Hast them given the life of thy soul and the light of thine eyes And in all, knowing not how they care for thy song and for thee, Nothing - Nothing at all? Hast thou chanted, O singer of songs - The man's pageant, fantastic and brief. - the pale gloom that belongs To the tragic defeat of man's life, when the dream fades and dies; For the decking of hope and to lighten the cross of his wrongs, Hast thou given the life of thy soul and the light of thine eyes, Knowing not they would care, these thy kindred, for thee and thy songs, Nothing - Nothing at all? Hath it happened. O singer of songs Thou hast woven the hope of thy heart in the wreath of thy song to be meant- For the brow of one fairer than dawn, or the cloud when it dies In the kiss of the sun - or the rose - or the snow on the lea? Would thou give her the life of thy soul and the light of thine eyes, Knowing not; till at last; how she cared for thy songs and for thee Nothing - Nothing at all? The Singer of Songs 2 Be at peace, O singer of songs, For the linden will blossom in June, and the rose be as fair. Wish thy wreath of songs scattered and lost, but the shadow which flies, Past the mountain and plains, to the sea, on the wings of the air Will be friends with the life of thy soul and the light of thine eyes, And the dual of my heart for thy heart's perished treasures will care, Nothing - Nothing at all. Robert Burns Wilson For Miss Mary Scott Sept. 99 - |
People |
Robert Burns Wilson Mary Mason Scott |
Search Terms |
Poetry |