The lyrics are by Lord George Gordon Byron, his poem "My Soul Is Dark".
Lord George Gordon Byron, the British romantic poet and
satirist, wrote a collection of thirty poems, the "Hebrew Melodies", in
1814-1815. The ninth of these, "My
Soul Is Dark", provided the lyrics to this
bossa
nova. The phrase in the poem,
"If in these eyes there lurk a tear", motivated the title,
There Lurks a Tear.
Byrons "My Soul is Dark" expresses a sad, dejected mood
that can effectively be conveyed with tango music. In 2004, I wrote a tango "art song", entitled "My Soul Is Dark", for piano and bass singer, from which There Lurks a Tear is
derived. The art song version was
performed in public in a Washington Musica Viva concert on October 23, 2005. Gary Poster sang bass, accompanied by
Carl Banner on the piano.
You may learn more about "Hebrew Melodies" and their
connection with Isaac Nathan, a composer and contemporary of Byron, from the
following link: http://www.newsteadabbeybyronsociety.org/works/downloads/hebrew_melodies.pdf
Here is the poem, "My Soul Is Dark", by Lord Byron, as it is
used in There Lurks a Tear:
My Soul Is Dark, Lord George Gordon Byron
My soul is dark Oh! quickly string
The harp I yet can brook to hear;
And let thy gentle fingers fling
Its melting murmurs oer mine ear.
If in this heart a hope be dear,
That sound shall charm it forth again:
If in these eyes there lurk a tear,
Twill flow, and cease to burn my brain.
(Instrumental bridge, then):
Twill flow, and cease to burn my brain.
But bid the strain be wild and deep,
Nor let thy notes of joy be first:
I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep,
Or else this heavy heart will burst;
For it hath been by sorrow nursed,
And ached in sleepless silence, long;
And now tis doomed to know the worst,
And break at once or yield to song.
(Instrumental bridge, then):
And break at once or yield to song.