by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)
Translation by Karl Alfred Melin (1849 - 1919)
'Tis the last rose of summer
Language: English
'Tis the last rose of summer, Left blooming alone; All her lovely companions Are faded and gone; No flow'r of her kindred, No rosebud is nigh To reflect back her blushes, Or give sigh for sigh. I'll not leave thee, thou lone one, To pine on the stem; Since the lovely are sleeping, Go, sleep thou with them; Thus kindly I scatter Thy leaves o'er [thy bed, Where]1 thy mates of the garden Lie [scentless]2 and dead. So soon may I follow, When friendships decay, And from Love's shining circle The gems drop away! When true hearts lie wither'd. And fond ones are flown, Oh! who would inhabit This bleak world alone?
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Britten: "the bed/ Where"
2 Britten: "senseless"
Authorship:
- by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "'Tis the last rose of summer", appears in Irish Melodies, first published 1813 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "The last rose of summer" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Friedrich (Adolf Ferdinand) von Flotow (1812 - 1883), "'Tis the last rose of summer" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927), "'Tis the last rose of summer", op. 64 (Garland of Songs), Heft 1 no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Lalli , "The last rose of summer" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Havelock Nelson (1917 - 1996), "The last rose of summer", published 1964 [ SSA chorus and piano ], London: Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Andrew Stevenson (1761 - 1833), "'Tis the last rose of summer" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Phyllis Margaret Duncan Tate (1911 - 1987), "The last rose of summer", published 1964 [ SATB chorus and piano ], London: Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Auguste Louis Charles de Messence, comte de La Garde-Chambonas (1783 - 1853?) [an adaptation] ; composed by Giulio Alary.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Sophie von Reinhardt, Gräfin ; composed by Emilie Zumsteeg.
- Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Karl Alfred Melin (1849 - 1919) ; composed by Frithiof Hertzman, Emil Sjögren.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Guy Tops) , "’t Is de laatste roos van de zomer", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "C'est la dernière rose de l'été", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 112
Sommarens sista ros
Language: Swedish (Svenska)  after the English
Se blommande allena står sommarns sista ros. De väna systrar alla ha vandrat re'n sin kos. Som vän bland höstens blommor ej ens en knopp hon har att hennes rodnad spegla och ge på sucken svar. Jag vill ej här dig lämna att tyna utan hem. Nu slumra dina kära. Gå, slumra du med dem. Se, dina blad jag skakar så sakta kring det bo, där dina vänner ligga i dödens stilla ro. Så vill jag snart dig följa, när mina vänner flytt. Min kärleksring förlorat de pärlor honom prytt. När trogna hjärtan kallnat och gjort sin sista färd, vem vill då ensam stanna i denna mörka värld?
Authorship:
- by Karl Alfred Melin (1849 - 1919) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "'Tis the last rose of summer", appears in Irish Melodies, first published 1813
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Frithiof Hertzman (1837 - 1910), "Sommarens sista ros", op. 4 (Tre sånger) no. 2, published 1869 [ voice and piano ], Hirsch förlag [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Johan Gustaf) Emil Sjögren (1853 - 1918), "Sommarens sista ros", 1890 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2021-04-10
Line count: 24
Word count: 108