Frances Cornford's Dirge

English poet Frances Cornford published this concise poem of jaunty dread when she was just 24 years old. I don't know if this is a "persona poem" or some kind of poetic exercise on her part. I can't assign any biographic info toward the losses quickly cataloged in it. The words' briefness and quick poetic movement pushed me toward the music I composed and performed for her poem. My performance is aimed at giving an impression of distress, yes, but also perseverance, for while it sings of the devil ransacking the singer, the singer is still singing. The Parlando Project takes various words (mostly literary poetry) and combines them with original music in differing styles. We've done over 900 of these combinations, and you can hear any of them and read about our encounters with the words at our blog and archives located at frankhudson.org