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by William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)

Behold the Child among his new‑born blisses
 (Sung text for setting by G. Finzi)
 See original
Language: English 
 ... 

Behold the Child among his new-born blisses, 
A six years' darling of a pigmy size!
See, where 'mid work of his own hand he lies,
Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses,
With light upon him from his father's eyes!
See, at his feet, some little plan or chart, 
Some fragment from his dream of human life,
Shaped by himself with newly-learn'd art;
        A wedding or a festival,
        A mourning or a funeral;
            And this hath now his heart, 
        And unto this he frames his song:
            Then will he fit his tongue
To dialogues of business, love, or strife;
        But it will not be long
        Ere this be thrown aside,
        And with new joy and pride
The little actor cons another part;
Filling from time to time his "humorous stage"
With all the Persons, down to palsied Age,
That Life brings with her in her equipage;
        As if his whole vocation
        Were endless imitation.

Composition:

    Set to music by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "Behold the Child among his new-born blisses", op. 29 no. 7, stanza 7 [ tenor, chorus, and orchestra ], from Intimations of Immortality, no. 7, note: this section is without music

Text Authorship:

  • by William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850), "Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood"

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail

This text was added to the website: 2005-12-31
Line count: 207
Word count: 1398

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