Ex. 2-14: The Bird and the Rose

Words by Robert Smythe Hichens, published in 1895. This was Horrocks's most popular song, performed widely at the London Ballad Concerts and at the Proms under Henry Wood (23 August 1909). Herbert Witherspoon recorded it in 1917.

The poem tells of a rose blooming alone in a desert, sighing in loneliness, and a little bird who asks: "Why are you sad, sweet rose?"