by John Banister Tabb (1845 - 1909)
Fern song
Language: English
Dance to the beat of the rain, little Fern, And spread out your arms again, And say, ‘Tho’ the sun Hath my vesture spun, He hath labour’d, alas, in vain, But for the shade That the Cloud hath made, And the gift of the Dew and the Rain.’ Then laugh and upturn All your fronds, little Fern, And rejoice in the beat of the rain!
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by William Baines (1899 - 1922), "Fern song", 1919, first performed 1956, from Five songs, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2023-01-13
Line count: 11
Word count: 65