Songs

Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair

by Ned Rorem

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Text

Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair
English source: Jeppe Aakjær

I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Borne like a vapor, on the summer air:
I see her tripping where the bright streams play,
Happy as the daisies that dance on her way.
Many were the wild notes her merry voice would pour,
Many were the blithe birds that warbled them o'er:
Oh! I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Floating, like a vapor on the soft summer air.

I long for Jeanie with the day dawn smile,
Radiant in gladness, warm winning guile;
I hear her melodies, like joys gone by,
Sighing round my heart o'er the fond hopes that die:
Sighing like the night wind and sobbing like the rain,
Wailing for the lost one that comes not again:
Oh! I long for Jeanie and my heart bows low,
Nevermore to find here where the bright waters flow.

Composer

Ned Rorem

Ned Rorem is an American composer and diarist. 

Poet

Jeppe Aakjær

Jeppe Aakjær was a Danish poet and novelist. His work particularly focussed on his home region of Jutland.

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