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the rio grande - constant lambert lyrics

by the rio grande
they dance no sarabande
on level banks like lawns above the gl-ssy, lolling tide;
nor sing they forlorn madrigals
whose sad note stirs the sleeping gales
till they wake among the trees and shake the boughs
and fright the nightingales;
but they dance in the city, down the public squares
on the marble pavers with each colour laid in shares
at the open church doors loud with light within
at the bell’s huge tolling
by the river music, gurgling, thin
through the soft brazilian air
the comendador and alguacil are there
on horseback, hid with feathers, loud and shrill
blowing orders on their trumpets like a bird’s sharp bill
through boughs, like a bitter wind, calling
they shine like steady starlight while those other sparks are failing
in burnished armour, with their plumes of fire
tireless while all others tire
the noisy streets are empty and hushed is the town
to where, in the square, they dance and the band is playing ;
such a sp-ce of silence through the town to the river
that the water murmurs loud –
above the band and crowd together;
and the strains of the sarabande
more lively than a madrigal
go hand in hand
like the river and its waterfall
as the great rio grande rolls down to the sea
loud is the marimba’s note
above these half -salt waves
and louder still the tympanum
the plectrum, and the kettle-drum
sullen and menacing
do these brazen voices ring
they ride outside
above the salt-sea’s tide
till the ships at anchor there
hear this enchantment
of the soft brazilian air
by those southern winds wafted
slow and gentle
their fierceness tempered
by the air that flows between

- constant lambert lyrics

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