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by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940)

Sweet Chance, that led my steps abroad
Language: English 
Sweet Chance, that led my steps abroad,
Beyond the town, where wild flow'rs grow --
A rainbow and a cuckoo, Lord,
How rich and great the times are now!
Know all ye sheep
And cows, that keep
On staring that I stand so long
In grass that's wet from heavy rain --
A rainbow, and a cuckoo's song
May never come together again,
May never [come]1
This side the tomb.
A rainbow, and a cuckoo's song
May never come together again...

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   M. Head 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Head: "come from"

Text Authorship:

  • by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940), "A great time", appears in The Bird of Paradise and Other Poems, first published 1914 [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 Otto Freudenthal (b. 1934), "A great time", 2000 [ voice and piano ], from 10 poems by William H. Davies for voice and piano, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Michael (Dewar) Head (1900 - 1976), "Sweet Chance, that led my steps abroad", published 1929, first performed 1928 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Songs of the Countryside, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Wynn Hunt (b. 1910), "A great time" [ bass-baritone and piano ], from W. H. Davies Song Cycle [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Newell Wallbank (b. 1914), "A great time", published 1948 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 80

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