The opening lines, “Listen, I love you. Do not turn your face / Nor touch me.”, reflect the somber feelings encompassing Sara Teasdale’s poem. Paired voices initially express contrapuntal melodic lines enhanced by underlying harmony and slow syncopation in the piano accompaniment. The middle and final sections, imbued with sad words such as “let me ease my heart,” “with broken wing” and “Forget that I am speaking,” evolve beautifully within contrasting tonal regions, supported by undulating keyb...