I Shall Go Back Again

Program Notes: This poem, and thus this song, is all about a memory. A memory of the shore - the ocean - with a young love, now lost. For what reason, we are not sure. Are we returning to this place in physical reality, or only in our thoughts? Are we returning for the first time in years, or do we visit it frequently? All we know is that we are abruptly interrupted by the reminder that "nevermore shall I return to take you by the hand." The music lingers out of time - in a bubble, before returning to the overlapping of the waves and our thoughts, never to truly settle or rest. -Laura Nevitt Text: I shall go back again to the bleak shore And build a little shanty on the sand In such a way that the extremest band Of brittle seaweed will escape my door But by a yard or two, and nevermore Shall I return to take you by the hand; I shall be gone to what I understand And happier than I ever was before. The love that stood a moment in your eyes, The words that lay a moment on your tongue, Are one with all that in a moment dies, A little under-said and over-sung; But I shall find the sullen rocks and skies Unchanged from what they were when I was young. -Edna St. Vincent Millay This text is in the public domain.