[Say, wilt]1 thou go with me, sweet maid? Say, maiden, wilt thou go with me? Through the valley-depths of shade, Of [bright]2 and dark obscurity? Where the path [hath]3 lost its way, Where the sun forgets the day; Where there's nor [light nor life]4 to see, Sweet maiden, wilt thou go with me? Where stones will turn to flooding streams, Where plains will rise like ocean's waves, Where life will fade like vision'd dreams, And [darkness]5 darken into caves? Say, maiden, wilt thou go with me Through this sad non-identity; Where parents live and are forgot, And sisters live and know us not? Say, maiden, wilt thou go with me, In this strange death of life to be; To live in death and be the same, Without this life or home or name? At once to be, and not to be, That was and is not, yet to see Things pass like shadows, and the sky, Above, below, around us lie? The land of shadows wilt thou trace, Nor look nor know each other's face; The present marr'd with reason gone, And past and present both as one? Say, maiden, can thy life be led To join the living and the dead? -- Then trace thy footsteps on with me, We are wed to one eternity.
A John Clare Cantata
Song Cycle by Patric Standford (b. 1939)
?. Invitation to Eternity [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by John Clare (1793 - 1864), "Invitation to Eternity", written 1848, appears in John Clare: Poems, first published 1893
See other settings of this text.
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with The Literary World, Volume 48, London, September 1893, page 200, under the heading "Clare's unpublished poems" with a note saying "The two following poems by John Clare, hitherto unpublished, and bearing the date `May, 1848,' have been kindly sent to us by Mr. Jesse Hall, of Wimbledon."
1 Muhly, Venables: "Wilt"2 Muhly, Venables: "night"
3 Muhly, Venables: "has"
4 Muhly, Venables: "life nor light"
5 Muhly, Venables: "mountains"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
?. Song's Eternity [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
What is song's eternity? Come and see. Can it noise and bustle be? Come and see. Praises sung or praises said Can it be? Wait awhile and these are dead -- Sigh, sigh; Be they high or lowly bred They die. What is song's eternity? Come and see. Melodies of earth and sky, Here they be. Song once sung to Adam's ears Can it be? Ballads of six thousand years Thrive, thrive; Songs awaken with the spheres Alive. Mighty songs that miss decay, What are they? Crowds and cities pass away Like a day. Books are out and books are read; What are they? Years will lay them with the dead -- Sigh, sigh; Trifles unto nothing wed, They die. Dreamers, mark the honey bee; Mark the tree Where the blue cap "_tootle tee_" Sings a glee Sung to Adam and to Eve Here they be. When floods covered every bough, Noah's ark Heard that ballad singing now; Hark, hark, "_Tootle tootle tootle tee_" -- Can it be Pride and fame must shadows be? Come and see -- Every season own her own; Bird and bee Sing creation's music on; Nature's glee Is in every mood and tone Eternity.
Text Authorship:
- by John Clare (1793 - 1864), "Song's Eternity", appears in John Clare: Poems, first published 1920
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]Total word count: 410