The lamplighter

My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;
It's time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.

Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,
And my papa's a banker and as rich as he can be;
But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I'm to do,
O Leerie, I'll go round at night and light the lamps with you!

For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,
And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;
And O! before you hurry by with ladder and with light,
O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him tonight.

Translation(s): ITA

List of language codes

Submitted by Ted Perry

Authorship

• by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The lamplighter", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885 [ 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 Ethel Crowningshield , "The lamplighter", published 1910 [voice and piano], from Robert Louis Stevenson Songs [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Henry John Edwards (1854 - 1933), "The lamplighter", published 1913. [SATB chorus a cappella] [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Sven Lekberg (1899 - 1984), "The lamplighter", published 1959. [SATB chorus a cappella] [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Daniel Gregory Mason (1873 - 1953), "The lamplighter", published <<1940 [voice and piano], from Five Children's Songs [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "The lamplighter", op. 5 no. 2, published 1914 [voice and piano], from Four Child Songs, no. 2, Chappell [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by Alec Rowley (1892 - 1958), "The lamplighter", published <<1967. [unison chorus and piano] [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Thomas Griffen (Griffin?) Shepard (1848 - 1905), "The lamplighter", published 1901 [voice and piano], from A cycle of songs [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Eleanor Smith , "The lamplighter", published <<1940 [voice and piano], from Song Pictures [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Ronald Stevenson (b. 1928), "The lamplighter", 1961 [medium voice and piano], from Four Robert Louis Stevenson Songs [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by John Brown Russell Whitfield , "The lamplighter", published 1958. [unison chorus and piano] [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson (b. 1931), "The lamplighter", published 1968 [high voice and piano], from From a child's garden, no. 10. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , title 1: "Il lampionaio", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project, and I have been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated.      - Emily Ezust

Il lampionaio

Il tè è quasi pronto e il sole è tramontato,
è ora di andare alla finestra per veder passare Leerie,
perché ogni sera prima che tu ti sieda per il tè,
con la scala e la lanterna viene ad accendere la strada.
 
Tom vuol fare il pilota e Maria andare per mare
e il mio papà è un banchiere e ricco che più non si può,
ma io, quando sarò più grande e potrò scegliere che cosa fare,
Leerie, andrò in giro di notte ad accendere i lampioni con te
 
Noi siamo molto fortunati, con un lampione davanti la porta
e Leerie si ferma ad accenderlo come fa con tanti altri,
e, oh!, prima di scappare via con la scala e la lanterna
Leerie, nota un bambino e fagli l'occhietto stasera!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The material directly above is protected by copyright and appears here by special permission. If you wish to copy it and distribute it, you must obtain permission or you will be breaking the law. Once you have permission, you must give credit to the author and display the copyright symbol ©. Copyright infringement is a criminal offense under international law.

Authorship

• Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2010 by Paolo Montanari, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  
  Contact:
  
  
  (licenses at lieder dot net)
  
  
  

• a text in English by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The lamplighter", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Ethel Crowningshield, Henry John Edwards, Sven Lekberg, Daniel Gregory Mason, Roger Quilter, Alec Rowley, Thomas Griffen Shepard, Eleanor Smith, Ronald Stevenson, John Brown Russell Whitfield, Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson. Go to the text.

Text added to the website: 2010-04-05.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:03:38
Line count: 12
Word count: 131