February: Thinking of Flowers

"February: Thinking of Flowers" is the fourth song of William Bolcom's song cycle Briefly It Enters, which sets nine poems of Jane Kenyon.

The audio recordings from Briefly It Enters are made possible through a collaboration between the Hampsong Foundation and SongFest. The performers are the 2012 SongFest Sorel Fellow Rachel Schutz, soprano, and Tomasz Lis, piano, and the performance took place at SongFest 2012 at The Colburn School.

Date: 1996Composer: William BolcomText: Jane KenyonSong Collection: Briefly It Enters

Print vitals & song text

Text

February: Thinking of Flowers
by Jane Kenyon

Briefly It Enters

Now wind torments the field,
turning the white surface back
on itself, back and back on itself,
like an animal licking a wound.

Nothing but white–the air, the light;
only one brown milkweed pod
bobbing in the gully, smallest
brown boat on the immense tide.

A single green sprouting thing
would restore me. . . .

Then think of the tall delphinium,
swaying, or the bee when it comes
to the tongue of the burgundy lily.

Related Information

Videos

Sheet Music

Briefly It Enters

Composer(s): William Bolcom

Song(s): 1. Who
2. The Clearing
3. Otherwise
4. February: Thinking of Flowers
5. Twilight: After Haying Text: Jane Kenyon6. Man Eating
7. The Sick Wife
8. Peonies at Dusk
9. Briefly It Enters, and Briefly Speaks

Buy via Sheet Music Plus

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.