la regina gioiosa

Ruth Schönthal (24 giugno 1924 - 2006): By the Roadside, 6 songs su versi di Walt Whitman (1975). Berenice Bramson, soprano, accompagnata al pianoforte dall’autrice.

1. Mother and Babe
   I see the sleeping babe nestling the breast of its mother,
   The sleeping mother and babe — hush’d, I study them long and long.
2. Thought
   Of obedience, faith, adhesiveness;
   As I stand aloof and look, there is to me something profoundly affecting in large
   masses of men, following the lead of those who do not believe in men.
3. Visor’d
   A mask, a perpetual disguiser of herself,
   Concealing her face, concealing her form,
   Changes and transformations every hour, every moment,
   Falling upon her even when she sleeps.
4. To old age
   I see in you the estuary that enlarges and spreads
   itself grandly as it pours in the great sea.
5. A farm picture
   Through the ample open door of the peaceful country barn,
   A sunlit pasture field with cattle and horses feeding,
   And haze and vista, and the far horizon fading away.
6. A child’s amaze
   Silent and amazed even when a little boy,
   I remember I heard the preacher every Sunday put God in his statements,
   As contending against some being or influence.