Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal

Text by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) [Br]

Set by Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) [Br]; Gustav Holst (1874-1934) [Br], op. 20a, #6, and from Songs
from The Princess, H. 80, #6; Philip Moore (1943-) [Br], Summer Night; Roger Quilter (1877-1953) [Br],
op. 3, #2; Ned Rorem (1923-) [Am]

Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;

[na slips  km.zn pt.l na  at]1

Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;

[n wevz  sa.p()s n  pæl.()s wk]

Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry / (porph'ry) font:

[n wks  old fn n  p.fi fnt]

The firefly wakens: waken thou with me.

[ fa.fla we.knz we.kn a w mi]

Now droops the milkwhite peacock like a ghost,

[na dups  mlk.at pi.kk lak  ost]

And like a ghost she glimmers on to me.

[ænd lak  ost i l.mz n tu mi]

Now lies the earth all Danae to the stars,

[na laz i  l dæ.nei tu  stz]

And all thy heart lies open unto me.

[ænd l a ht laz o.pn n.tu mi]

Now slides the silent meteor on, and leaves

[na sladz  sa.lnt mi.tj n ænd livz]

A shining furrow, as thy thoughts in me.

[ an. f.o æz a ts n mi]

Now folds the lily all her sweetness up,

[na foldz  l.li l h swit.n()s p]

And slips into the bosom of the lake:

[ænd slps n.tu  bz.m v  lek]

1
The IPA transcription is given in Mid-Atlantic pronunciation.
Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal (Tennyson) Page 1 of 2
So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip
[so fold a.slf ma d.()st a ænd slp]

Into my bosom and be lost in me.

[n.tu ma bz.m ænd bi lst n mi]

(IPA transcription © 2012 by Bard Suverkrop—IPA Source, LLC)

Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal (Tennyson) Page 2 of 2