From Whence Cometh Song
(1997)- Music by Ned Rorem
- Text by Theodore Roethke
"From Whence Cometh Song" is the first song in Rorem's massive song cycle Evidence of Things Not Seen, which sets 36 poems by a total of 24 authors.
From Whence Cometh Song?
by Theodore Roethke
From whence cometh song?
From the tear, far away,
From the hound giving tongue,
From the quarry’s weak cry.
From whence, love?
From the dirt in the street,
From the bolt stuck in the groove,
From the cur at my feet.
Whence, death?
From dire hell’s mouth,
From the ghost without breath,
From the wind shifting south.
