Old Songs opens with an appeal for mildness of musical expression: ‘Any little old song will do for me…I only need the homeliest of heartstirrings.’ This opening song, as well as the nine that follow, accede to this request and, even as the expressive content of the poetry is at times intense, a mood of quiet, simplicity and calm predominates for a large majority of the cycle. I hope, however, that, and that the songs acquire a poignancy through what is not said.