Goodbye! | Falling leaf and fading tree

by George John Whyte-Melville (1821 - 1878)

Goodbye!

Language: English

Our translations: JPN SPA

Falling leaf and fading tree,
Lines of white in a sullen sea,
Shadows rising on you and me;
Shadows rising on you and me;
The swallows are making them ready to fly,
Wheeling out on a windy sky.
Goodbye Summer! Goodbye! Goodbye!

Hush! a voice from the far away!
"Listen and learn," it seems to say,
"All the tomorrows shall be as today."
"All the tomorrows shall be as today."
The cord is frayed, the cruse is dry,
The link must break, and the lamp must die --
Goodbye to Hope! Goodbye! Goodbye!

What are we waiting for? Oh, my heart!
Kiss me straight on the brows! and part again!
Again! my heart! my heart! 
What are we waiting for, you and I?
A pleading look, a stifled cry.
Goodbye, forever! Goodbye, forever!
Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!

Note for stanza 2, line 5, word 6: "cruse" is an archaic word for "cup"

Text Authorship:

by George John Whyte-Melville (1821 - 1878) [author's text not yet checked 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 Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), "Goodbye!", also set in Italian (Italiano) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Francesco Rizzelli (1838 - 1910) ; composed by Francesco Paolo Tosti.
- Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this page: Jean Peccei

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 135