Beside the Sea

"Beside the Sea" is a song by Florence Price on the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar

Composer: Florence PriceText: Paul Laurence Dunbar

Print vitals & song text

Audio

Track:

    Text

    LONGING
    If you could sit with me beside the sea to-day,
    And whisper with me sweetest dreamings o’er and o’er;
    I think I should not find the clouds so dim and gray,
    And not so loud the waves complaining at the shore.

    If you could sit with me upon the shore to-day,
    And hold my hand in yours as in the days of old,
    I think I should not mind the chill baptismal spray,
    Nor find my hand and heart and all the world so cold.

    If you could walk with me upon the strand to-day,
    And tell me that my longing love had won your own,
    I think all my sad thoughts would then be put away,
    And I could give back laughter for the Ocean’s moan!

    Related Information

    Sheet Music

    Florence Price: 44 Art Songs and Spirituals

    Composer(s): Florence Price

    Song(s): A White Rose (John Boyle O'Reilly)
    An April Day (Joseph Cotter)
    Because (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
    Beside the Sea (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
    Bewilderment (Langston Hughes)
    Dawn's Awakening (James Joseph Burke)
    Death's Gwineter Lay His Cold Icy Hand on Me (Spiritual)
    Feet o' Jesus (Langston Hughes)
    Four Encore Songs: Tobacco (Graham Lee Hemminger); A Flea and a Fly (Ogden Nash); "Come, come," said Tom's Father (Thomas Moore); Song of the Open Road (Ogden Nash)
    Go Down, Moses (Spiritual)
    God Gives Me You (Nora Connelly)
    Hold Fast to Dreams (Langston Hughes)
    I Grew a Rose (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
    I'm Goin' to Lay Down My Heavy Load (Spiritual)
    Love-in-a-mist (Mary Rolofson Gamble)
    My Little Soul's Goin' to Shine (Spiritual)
    My Neighbor (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
    My Soul's Been Anchored in de Lord (Spiritual)
    Night (Louise C. Wallace)
    Out of the South Blew a Wind (Fannie Carter Woods)
    Resignation (Florence B. Price)
    Rise Mourner (Spiritual)
    Save Me Lord, Save Me (Spiritual)
    Some o' These Days (Spiritual)
    Song to the Dark Virgin (Langston Hughes)
    Sunset (Odessa P. Elder)
    Sympathy (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
    The Glory of the Day Was in Her Face (James Weldon Johnson)
    The Moon Bridge (Mary Rolofson Gamble)
    The Poet and His Song (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
    The Washerwoman (Otto Leland Bohanan)
    To My Little Son (Julia Johnson Davis)
    Travel's End (Mary Folwell Hoisington)
    Trouble Done Come My Way (Florence B. Price)
    Two Traditional Negro Spirituals: I am Bound for the Kingdom; I'm Workin' on My Buildin'
    We Have Tomorrow (Langston Hughes)
    Weary Traveler (Spiritual)
    What's the Use (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
    Words for a Spiritual ("Capricorn")
    You Won't Find a Man Like Jesus (Spiritual)

    Voice Type: Medium/High

    Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints

    Support us and help us grow

    Dear friends, Thank you for helping us build a comprehensive online archive of American song. Your gift is greatly appreciated.