by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
At the Altar‑rail
Language: English
'My bride is not coming, alas!' says the groom, And the telegram shakes in his hand. 'I own It was hurried! We met at a dancing-room When I went to the Cattle-Show alone, And then, next night, where the Fountain leaps, And the Street of the Quarter-Circle sweeps. 'Ay, she won me to ask her to be my wife -- 'Twas foolish perhaps! -- to forsake the ways Of the flaring town for a farmer's life. She agreed. And we fixed it. Now she says: "It's sweet of you, dear, to prepare me a nest, But a swift, short, gay life suits me best. What I really am you have never gleaned; I had eaten the apple ere you were weaned."'
Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "At the Altar-rail", appears in Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries with Miscellaneous Pieces [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 Betty Roe (b. 1930), "At the Altar-rail", published 1993 [duet for mezzo-soprano and baritone with piano], from Satires of Circumstance, no. 5. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-10-15
Line count: 14
Word count: 119