by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931)
A sailor once wooed a farmer's daughter
Language: English
A sailor once wooed a farmer's daughter, The fairest lass in all the country side. She loved him well; but when he besought her With beating, beating heart to be his bride, "A sailor lad," she said, "I'll never, never wed, And live a wife and widow all in one; O no, my charmer shall be a farmer, Returning faithful with the set of sun." At danger's call, across the water The sailor went, but left his heart behind; Fresh lovers whispered the farmer's daughter; Yet when they prayed her to confess her mind, "A farmer's lad," she said, "I'll never, never wed, When heroes bleed to guard their native strand. Till war is over I need no lover: Then let the stoutest soldier claim my hand." When peace returned, escaped from slaughter, With stars and crosses home our warriors came, And some went wooing the farmer's daughter, But none could charm the lass to change her name; Until once more from far a gallant, gallant tar Began with beating heart his love to tell; And sweetly turning, with blushes burning, She sighed: "Since first we met I've loved you well!"
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View text with all available footnotesAuthorship:
- by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931), "A sailor loved a farmer's daughter", appears in Irish Songs and Ballads, in Songs and Ballads [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 Dennis Drew Arundell (b. 1898), "The sailor", published 1924 [voice and piano], note: this may be the wrong text [text not verified]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "A sailor lad wooed a farmer's daughter", published [1882?] [voice and piano], from the collection Songs of Old Ireland. A Collection of Fifty Irish Melodies Unknown in England, no. 31, arrangement ; London, Boosey & Co. ; dedicated to Johannes Brahms, August 1882 [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-10
Line count: 24
Word count: 191