The Late Singer

"The Late Singer" is the first song of Tom Cipullo's song cycle Singing, which sets the text of various writers.

Date: 2009Composer: Tom CipulloText: William Carlos WilliamsSong Collection: Singing

Print vitals & song text

Text

The Late Singer
by William Carlos Williams

Here it is spring again
and I still a young man!
I am late at my singing.
The sparrow with the black rain on his breast has been at his cadenzas for two weeks past:
What is it that is dragging at my heart?
The grass by the back door
is stiff with sap.
The old maples are opening
their branches of brown and yellow moth-flowers.
A moon hangs in the blue
in the early afternoons over the marshes.
I am late at my singing.

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.