Source/attribution:Judith Bossano License for using this material (applies only to this entry): Copyright situation is unclear. Please consult the original submitter (see under "Source/attribution" or check the history).
composer/group:
Handel, arr by Arthur Somervell
title:
Silent Worship (Non lo dirò col labbro)
category:
Classical
lyrics or other text:
Did you not hear my lady
Go down the garden singing
Blackbird and thrush were silent
To hear the alleys ringing
O saw you not my lady
Out in the garden there?
Shaming the rose and lily
For she is twice as fair.
Though I am nothing to her,
Though she must rarely look at me,
And though I could never woo her,
I love her till I die.
Surely you heard my lady
Go down the garden singing,
Silencing all the songbirds:
And setting the alleys ringing,
But surely you see my lady
Out in the garden there
Riv'ling the glitt'ring sunshine,
With a glory of golden hair.
(From the opera "Ptolemy")