If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.
Three Simple Songs
Song Cycle by Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork (b. 1941)
1. In vain  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems of Emily Dickinson, first published 1890 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , appears in Kinder-Lieder, in 2. Lieder und Bilder aus der Natur, copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Se riuscirò a impedire", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
2. The daffodils  [sung text not yet checked]
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.
Authorship:
- by William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- 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
3. Christmas Everywhere  [sung text not yet checked]
Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight! Christmas in lands of the fir-tree and pine, Christmas in lands of the palm tree and vine, Christmas where snow peaks stand solemn and white, Christmas where cornfields stand sunny and bright; Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight. Christmas where children are hopeful and gay, Christmas where old men are patient and gray, Christmas where peace, like a dove in his flight, Broods o'er brave men in the thick of the fight; Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight. For the Christ-child who comes is the Master of all, No place too great and no cottage too small; The Angels who welcome Him sing from the height, "In the city of David, a King in His might." Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight. Then let every heart keep its Christmas within: Christ's pity for sorrow, Christ's hatred for sin. Christ's care for the weakest, Christ's courage for right, Christ's dread of the darkness, Christ's love for the light. Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight. So the stars of the midnight which compass us round Shall see a strange glory, and hear a sweet sound, And cry, "Look! the earth is aflame with delight, O sons of the morning, rejoice at the sight!" Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight!
Authorship:
- by Phillips Brooks, Rev. (1835 - 1893), "Everywhere, Everywhere Christmas Tonight!" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Total word count: 395