by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)
What does little birdie say
Language: English
What does little birdie say In her nest at peep of day? Let me fly, says little birdie, Mother, let me fly away. Birdie, rest a little longer Till thy little wings are stronger, So she rests a little longer Then she flies away. What does little baby say, In her bed at peep of day? Baby says, like little birdie, Let me rise and fly away. Baby, sleep a little longer, Till thy little limbs are stronger. If she sleeps a little longer Baby too shall fly away.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), "Cradle song" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "What does little birdie say", 1914, published 1937 [ voice and piano ], in The Troubadour Song Book [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), "Cradle song", c1904 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "Little birdie", RTv. 29 no. 1 (1912) [ chorus and piano ], from 2 Songs for Children, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ellen Dickson (1819 - 1878), as Dolores, "What does little birdie say?", subtitle: "Cradle song", published 1861 [ voice and piano ], London [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Adolf Strodtmann (1829 - 1879) , no title, appears in Alfred Tennyson's ausgewählte Dichtungen, in Meeresträume ; composed by Sopran Camillo Engel.
Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Ross Klatte
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 92