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]
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems of Emily Dickinson, first published 1890
See other settings of this text.
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]
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
3. Christmas Everywhere
Language: English
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.
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!
...
Text Authorship:
- by Phillips Brooks, Rev. (1835 - 1893), "Everywhere, Everywhere Christmas Tonight!"
Go to the general single-text view
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]Total word count: 395