Sonnet: What Lips My Lips Have Kissed...

"Sonnet: What lips my lips have kissed..." is the eleventh movement and sixth solo song of Bernstein's cycle Songfest. The song is for alto and orchestra, but a piano reduction has also been published.

Date: 1977Composer: Leonard BernsteinText: Edna St. Vincent MillaySong Collection: Songfest

Print vitals & song text

Text

What lips my lips have kissed…
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply;
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in the winter stands a lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet know its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone;
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

Videos

Sheet Music

Songfest

Composer(s): Leonard Bernstein

Song(s): 1. The Pennycandystore Beyond The El
2. A Julia de Burgos
3. To What You Said
4. Music I Heard With You
5. Zizi's Lament
6. Sonnet: What Lips My Lips Have Kissed...

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.