by Robert Seymour Bridges (1844 - 1930)
Clear and gentle stream!
Language: English
Clear and gentle stream! Known and loved so long, That hast heard the song And the idle dream Of my boyish day; While I once again Down thy margin stray, In the selfsame strain Still my voice is spent, With my old lament And my idle dream, Clear and gentle stream! Where my old seat was Here again I sit, Where the long boughs knit Over stream and grass A translucent eaves: Where back eddies play Shipwreck with the leaves, And the proud swans stray, Sailing one by one Out of stream and sun, And the fish lie cool In their chosen pool. Many an afternoon Of the summer day Dreaming here I lay; And I know how soon, Idly at its hour, First the deep bell hums From the minster tower, And then evening comes, Creeping up the glade, With her lengthening shade, And the tardy boon Of her brightening moon. Clear and gentle stream! Ere again I go Where thou dost not flow, Well does it beseem Thee to hear again Once my youthful song, That familiar strain Silent now so long: Be as I content With my old lament And my idle dream, Clear and gentle stream.
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Authorship:
- by Robert Seymour Bridges (1844 - 1930), "Elegy", from Poems, first published 1873 [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 Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "Clear and gentle stream", op. 17 no. 4 (1934-7) [ satb chorus a cappella ], from Seven Unaccompanied Part Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "Clear and gentle stream" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robin Humphrey Milford (1903 - 1959), "Elegy", 1933, published 1933 [ voice and piano ], London: Novello & Co. [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-08
Line count: 48
Word count: 200