by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)
When I watch the living meet Matches original text
Language: English
When I watch the living meet, And the moving pageant file Warm and breathing through the street Where I lodge a little while, If the heats of hate and lust In the house of flesh are strong, Let me mind the house of dust Where my sojourn shall be long. In the nation that is not Nothing stands that stood before; There revenges are forgot, And the hater hates no more; Lovers lying two and two Ask not whom they sleep beside, And the bridegroom all night through Never turns him to the bride.
Composition:
- Set to music by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893 - 1976), "When I watch the living meet", 1930, published 1934 [ baritone and piano ], from Seven Songs from "A Shropshire Lad", no. 2
Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 12, first published 1896
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 94