Despite and Still (op. 41, no. 5)

"Despite and Still" is the fifth and final song of Samuel Barber's cycle Despite and Still, Op. 41.

Date: 1969Composer: Samuel BarberText: Robert GravesSong Collection: Despite and Still, Op. 41

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Despite and Still
by Robert Graves

Have you not read
The words in my head,
And I made part
Of your own heart?
We have been such as draw
The losing straw —
You of your gentleness,
I of my rashness,
Both of despair —
Yet still might share
This happy will:
To love despite and still.
Never let us deny
The thing’s necessity,
But, O, refuse
To choose,
Where chance may seem to give
Love in alternative.

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Samuel Barber: Collected Songs

Composer(s): Samuel Barber

Song(s): 1. A Last Song (op. 41, no. 1)
2. My Lizard (Wish For a Young Love) (op. 41, no. 2)
3. In The Wilderness (op. 41, no. 3)
4. Solitary Hotel (op. 41, no. 4)
5. Despite and Still (op. 41, no. 5)

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