So we'll go no more a-roving So late into the night, Though the heart be [still]1 as loving, And the moon be still as bright. For the sword outwears [the]2 sheath, And the soul wears out the breast, And the heart [must pause to breathe]3, And Love itself have rest. Though the night was made for loving, And the day returns too soon, Yet we'll go no more a-roving By the light of the moon.
We'll go no more a-roving
Set by T. Wallace Southam , "We'll go no more a-roving", published 1966, stanza 1 of [ voice and piano ], from Poetry Set in Jazz  [sung text not yet checked]
Note: this setting is made up of several separate texts.
Text Authorship:
- by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "So we'll go no more a-roving", written 1817, appears in Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: with Notices of His Life, Volume II, first published 1830
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , "So werden wir nicht mehr schweifen", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Included in a letter to Thomas Moore on February 28, 1817
See also Henley's "We'll go no more a-roving"
1 Armstrong, White: "ne'er"
2 Chávez: "its"
3 Armstrong, White: "itself must pause"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.
The dew of the morning
Sunk chill on my brow --
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame;
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.
They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o'er me --
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:--
Long, long shall I rue thee,
Too deeply to tell.
In secret we met --
In silence I grieve
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee? --
With silence and tears.
Text Authorship:
- by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "When we two parted", appears in Poems, first published 1816
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) (Mei Foong Ang) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Alexis Paulin Pâris)
Author(s): George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)