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by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)

Oh fair enough are sky and plain
 (Sung text for setting by C. Orr)
 Matches original text
Language: English 
Oh fair enough are sky and plain,
  But I know fairer far:
Those are as beautiful again
  That in the water are;

The pools and rivers wash so clean
  The trees and clouds and air,
The like on earth was never seen,
  And oh that I were there.

These are the thoughts I often think
  As I stand gazing down
In act upon the cressy brink
  To strip and dive and drown;

But in the golden-sanded brooks
  And azure meres I spy
A silly lad that longs and looks
  And wishes he were I.

Composition:

    Set to music by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893 - 1976), "Oh fair enough are sky and plain", 1931, published 1934 [ baritone and piano ], from Seven Songs from "A Shropshire Lad", no. 5

Text Authorship:

  • by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 20, first published 1896

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 94

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