Echo

"Echo" is the second song of David Conte's song cycle Three Poems of Christina Rossetti.

The audio selection features Catherine Cook, mezzo-soprano, and Steven Bailey, piano. Used with the permission of the composer.

Date: 2010Composer: David ConteText: Christina RossettiSong Collection: Three Poems of Christina Rossetti

Print vitals & song text

Text

Echo
by Christina Rossetti

Come to me in the silence of the night;
Come in the speaking silence of a dream;
Come with soft rounded cheeks and eyes as bright
As sunlight on a stream;
Come back in tears,
O memory, hope, love of finished years.

Oh dream how sweet, too sweet, too bitter sweet,
Whose wakening should have been in Paradise,
Where souls brimfull of love abide and meet;
Where thirsting longing eyes
Watch the slow door
That opening, letting in, lets out no more.

Yet come to me in dreams, that I may live
My very life again though cold in death:
Come back to me in dreams, that I may give
Pulse for pulse, breath for breath:
Speak low, lean low,
As long ago, my love, how long ago!

Related Information

Audio

Track:

    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.