by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)

A song of Love and Death
 (Sung text for setting by R. Walthew)
 See original
Language: English 
Our translations:  DUT FRI
And in those days she made a little song,
And called her song "The Song of Love and Death,"
And sang it: sweetly could she make and sing.

  Sweet is true love tho' giv'n in vain, in vain;
  And sweet is death that puts an end to pain:
  I know not which is sweeter, no, not I.

  Love, art thou sweet? then bitter death must be:
  Love, thou art bitter; sweet is death to me.
  O Love, if death is sweeter, let me die.

  Sweet love, that seems not made to fade away,
  Sweet death, that seems to make us loveless clay,
  I know not which is sweeter, no, not I.

  I fain would follow love, if that could be;
  I needs must follow death, who calls for me;
  Call and I follow, I follow! let me die.

Note: Many of the settings listed below probably use only the song itself, i.e., stanzas 2-5; Musical Settings of Early and Mid-Victorian Literature indicates that Papini and Mrs. Phillips include the first stanza as well in their settings.

Composition:

    Set to music by Richard Henry Walthew (1872 - 1951), "A song of Love and Death", 1898 [ mezzo-soprano, clarinet, and piano ]

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Geart van der Meer) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRI Frisian (Geart van der Meer) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Peter Brixius

This text was added to the website: 2009-01-07
Line count: 15
Word count: 139