Waken, lords and ladies gay, [On]1 the mountain dawns the day; All the jolly chase is here. With hawk and horses and hunting-spear! [Hounds are in their couples yelling, Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling, Merrily, merrily mingle they, "Waken, lords and ladies gay."]2 Waken, lords and ladies gay, The mist has left the mountain gray, [Springlets in the dawn are steaming, Diamonds on the brake are gleaming, And foresters have busy been To track the buck in thicker green; Now we come to chant our lay, "Waken, lords and ladies gay."]3 Waken lords and ladies gay, To the greenwood haste away; We can show you where he lies, Fleet of foot and tall of size; We can show the marks he made When 'gainst the oak his antlers frayed; You shall see him brought to bay; Waken, lords and ladies gay. Louder, louder chant the lay, Waken, lords and ladies gay! Tell them youth and mirth and glee [Run a course as well as we; Time, stern huntsman! who can balk, Stanch as hound and fleet as hawk? Think of this, and rise with day, Gentle lords and ladies gay!]4
Three Hunting Songs
Song Cycle by Brian Holmes (b. 1946)
1. Hunting Song  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by Walter Scott, Sir (1771 - 1832)
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Georg Pertz) , "Auf, ihr Herrn und schmucke Fraun"
1 Beethoven: "Upon"
2 Beethoven: "The eager hounds in chorus cry, / The swelling horns salute the sky; / And merrily, merrily mingle they, / Then Waken, lords and ladies gay !"
3 Beethoven: "Brakes are deck'd with diamonds bright, / And streams rejoice in early light. / The foresters have busy been / To track the buck in thicket green; / Now we are come to chant our lay, / Then waken, lords and ladies gay."
4 Beethoven: "Run swift their course as well as we; / Old Time, stern huntsman! who can baulk, / As staunch as hound and fleet as hawk? / O think of this, and rise with day, / Ye gentle lords and ladies gay!"
Researcher for this page: Brian Holmes
2. Ballad of the Foxhunter  [sung text not yet checked]
'[Lay]1 me in a cushioned chair; Carry me, ye four, With cushions here and cushions there, To see the world once more. 'To stable and to kennel go; Bring what is there to bring; Lead my Lollard to and fro, Or gently in a ring. 'Put the chair upon the grass: Bring Rody and his hounds, That I may contented pass From these earthly bounds.' His eyelids droop, his head falls low, His old eyes cloud with dreams; The sun upon all things that grow Falls in sleepy streams. Brown Lollard treads upon the lawn, And to the armchair goes, And now the old man's dreams are gone, He smooths the long brown nose. And now moves many a pleasant tongue Upon his wasted hands, For leading aged hounds and young The huntsman near him stands. 'Huntsmam Rody, blow the horn, Make the hills reply.' The huntsman loosens on the morn A gay wandering cry. Fire is in the old man's eyes, His fingers move and sway, And when the wandering music dies They hear him feebly say, 'Huntsman Rody, blow the horn, Make the hills reply.' 'I cannot blow upon my horn, I can but weep and sigh.' Servants round his cushioned place Are with new sorrow wrung; Hounds are gazing on his face, Aged hounds and young. One blind hound only lies apart On the sun-smitten grass; He holds deep commune with his heart: The moments pass and pass: The blind hound with a mournful din Lifts slow his wintry head; The servants bear the body in; The hounds wail for the dead.
Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "The Ballad of the Old Foxhunter", appears in East and West, first published 1889
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View original text (without footnotes)1 alternatively, "Now lay"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
3. All in green went my love riding  [sung text not yet checked]
All in green went my love riding on a great horse of gold into the silver dawn. four lean hounds crouched low and smiling the merry deer ran before. Fleeter be they than dappled dreams the swift sweet deer the red rare deer. Four red roebuck at a white water the cruel bugle sang before. Horn at hip went my love riding riding the echo down into the silver dawn. four lean hounds crouched low and smiling the level meadows ran before. Softer be they than slippered sleep the lean lithe deer the fleet flown deer. Four fleet does at a gold valley the famished arrow sang before. Bow at belt went my love riding riding the mountain down into the silver dawn. four lean hounds crouched low and smiling the sheer peaks ran before. Paler be they than daunting death the sleek slim deer the tall tense deer. Four tell stags at a green mountain the lucky hunter sang before. All in green went my love riding on a great horse of gold into the silver dawn. four lean hounds crouched low and smiling my heart fell dead before.
Authorship:
- by E. E. (Edward Estlin) Cummings (1894 - 1962), no title, appears in Tulips and Chimneys, in 1. Tulips, in 1. Songs, no. 4, first published 1923
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]