'The Man from a Far Countree'

from Façade

General Information – Performing Forces – Manuscript – Publication – Arrangements – Recordings – Text

General Information:

Text:
Dame Edith Sitwell (1887–1964)
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Performing Forces:

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Text:

Rose and Alice,
Oh, the pretty lassies,
With their mouths like a calice
And their hair a golden palace —
Through my heart like a lovely wind they blow.

Though I am black and not comely,
Though I am black as the darkest trees,
I have swarms of gold that will fly like honey-bees,
By the rivers of the sun I will feed my words
Until they skip like those fleecèd lambs
The waterfalls, and the rivers (horned rams);
Then for all my darkness I shall be
The peacefulness of a lovely tree —
A tree wherein the golden birds
Are singing in the darkest branches, oh!

— Dame Edith Sitwell (1887–1964)

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