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Ten Songs , opus 104a

by Richard Stöhr (1874 - 1967)

1. Out in the Fields With God
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
The little cares that fretted me,
I lost them yesterday,
Among the fields above the sea,
Among the winds at play,
Among the lowing of the herds,
The rustling of the trees,
Among the singing birds,
The humming of the bees.

The fears of what may come to pass,
I cast them all away,
Among the clover scented grass,
Among the new mown hay,
Among the hushing of the corn,
Where drowsy poppies nod,
Where ill thoughts die and good are born--
Out in the fields with God.

Text Authorship:

  • by Louise Imogen Guiney (1861 - 1920), "Out in the Fields With God"

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2. The Windmill
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Behold! a giant am I!
  Aloft here in my tower,
  With my granite jaws I devour
The maize, and the wheat, and the rye,
  And grind them into flour. 

I look down over the farm;
  In the fields of grain I see
  The harvest that is to be,
And I fling in the air my arm,
  For I know it is all for me. 

And I hear the sound of flails
  Far off, from the threshing-floors
  In barns, with their open doors,
And the wind, the wind in my sails,
  Louder and louder roars. 

I stand here in my place,
  With my foot on the rock below,
  And whichever way it may blow,
I meet it face to face,
  As a brave man meets his foe. 

And while we wrestle and strive,
  My master, the miller, stands
  And feeds me with his hands;
For he knows who makes him thrive,
  Who makes him lord of lands. 

On Sundays I take my rest;
  Church-going bells begin
  Their low, melodious din;
I cross my arms on my breast,
  And all is peace within.

Text Authorship:

  • by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "The windmill", first published 1880

See other settings of this text.

3. Snowflakes
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Out of the bosom of the Air,
  Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
  Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
    Silent, and soft, and slow
    Descends the snow. 
Even as our cloudy fancies take
  Suddenly shape of some divine expression,
Even as the troubled heart doth make
  In the white countenance confession,
    The troubled sky reveals
    The grief it feels. 
This is the poem of the air,
  Slowly in silent syllables recorded;
This is the secret of despair,
  Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,
    Now whispered and revealed
    To wood and field. 

Text Authorship:

  • by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "Snow-Flakes", appears in The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Other Poems, first published 1858

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

4. Why so pale and wan
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Why so pale and wan, fond lover?
  Prithee, why so pale?
Will, when looking well can't move her,
  Looking ill prevail?
  Prithee, why so pale?

Why so dull and mute, young sinner?
  Prithee, why so mute?
Will, when speaking well can't win her,
  Saying nothing do?
  Prithee, why so mute?

Quit, quit for shame, this will not move,
  This cannot take her;
If of herself she will not love,
  Nothing can make her;
  The devil take her!

Text Authorship:

  • by John Suckling, Sir (1609 - 1642), no title, written 1637, Printed by John Haviland for Thomas Walkley, at the sign of the Flying Horse near York House, London, first published 1638

See other settings of this text.

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Adolf von Marées) , "Warum so blaß?"

5. Leisure
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stand as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time, to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like stars at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

 ... 

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Text Authorship:

  • by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940), "Leisure", appears in Songs of Joy and Others, first published 1911

See other settings of this text.

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , "Muße", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

6. Daffodils
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Text Authorship:

  • by William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Narcisky"
  • GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "Die Narzissen", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "Ich wandert' einsam wie die Wolk'", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , "Nárciszok", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Jak obłok ponad pasmem gór", Warsaw, first published 1907

7. Ode to solitude
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.

Blest, who can unconcernedly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease,
Together mixed; sweet recreation;
And innocence, which most does please,
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

Text Authorship:

  • by Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744), "Ode to solitude"

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8. The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore.
And the tide rises, the tide falls. 

Text Authorship:

  • by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "The tide rises, the tide falls", from Ultima Thule, first published 1880

See other settings of this text.

9. The Harp that once through Tara’s Halls
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
The harp that once through Tara's hall
The soul of music shed,
Now hangs as mute on Tara's wall,
As if that soul were fled.
So sleeps the pride of former days,
So glory's thrill is o'er,
And hearts, that once beat high for praise,
Now feel that pulse no more.
 
No more to chiefs and ladies bright
The harp of Tara swells;
The chord alone, that breaks at night,
Its tale of ruin tells.
Thus Freedom now so seldom wakes,
The only throb she gives,
Is when some heart indignant breaks,
To show that still she lives.

Text Authorship:

  • by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "The harp that once through Tara's halls", appears in Irish Melodies

See other settings of this text.

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "La harpe qui autrefois dans les salles de Tara", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

10. Nature
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
As a fond mother, when the day is o'er,
  Leads by the hand her little child to bed,
  Half willing, half reluctant to be led,
  And leave his broken playthings on the floor,
Still gazing at them through the open door,
  Nor wholly reassured and comforted
  By promises of others in their stead,
  Which, though more splendid, may not please him more;
So Nature deals with us, and takes away
  Our playthings one by one, and by the hand
  Leads us to rest so gently, that we go
Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay,
  Being too full of sleep to understand
  How far the unknown transcends the what we know.

Text Authorship:

  • by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "Nature", appears in Masque of Pandora and Other Poems, first published 1875

See other settings of this text.

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has 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 help is greatly appreciated!
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