dusk in june (satb)

This octavo contains four settings of the poems by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933).  The four poems in this octavo are: "Life Has Loveliness to Sell," "To-Night," "Dusk in June," and "I Would Live in Your Love."

"Dusk in June" seems rhythmically linked to "To-Night," but adds a precious device of overlapping echoes on "joy" and "sing" and the final "night."  At first evocative of the shimmering sound of the birds, the repetitions act like a sequence of firework bursts, creating a feeling of expansive space and freedom.  When the device is applied to the final lines, the poet's wish to sing like the birds is simultaneously granted.