The white blossom's off the bog

The white blossom's off the bog, and the leaves are off the trees,
And the singing birds have scattered across the stormy seas;
            And oh! 'tis winter,
            Wild, wild winter!
With the lonesome wind sighing for ever through the trees.
 
How green the leaves were springing! how glad the birds were singing!
When I rested in the meadow with my head on Patrick's knees;
            And oh! 'twas spring time,
            Sweet, sweet spring time!
With the daisies all dancing before in the breeze.
 
With the spring the fresh leaves they'll laugh upon the trees,
And the birds they'll flutter back with their songs across the seas,
But I'll never rest again with my head on Patrick's knees;
            And for me 'twill be winter,
            All the year winter,
With the lonesome wind sighing for ever through the trees.

Submitted by Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

Authorship

• by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931), "The white blossom's off the bog", appears in Irish Songs and Ballads, in Songs and Ballads [ author's text checked 1 time]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Mary Grant Carmichael (1851 - 1935), "The white blossom's off the bog", published 1890 [voice and piano], from the collection Album of Six Songs by A. P. Graves, no. 2, London: Boosey & Co. [
   text not verified 
  ]

Text added to the website: 2013-04-12.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:05:09
Line count: 16
Word count: 136

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

Browse imslp.org (Petrucci Music Library) for Lieder or choral works