by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Language: English
Whether men do laugh or weep,
Whether they do wake or sleep,
Whether they die young or old,
Whether they feel heat or cold,
There is underneath the sun
Nothing in true earnest done.
All our pride is but a jest.
None are worst and none are best.
Grief and joy and hope and fear
Play their pageants ev'rywhere.
Vain opinion all doth sway,
And the world is but a play.
...
Composition:
- Set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Epilogue", stanzas 1-2 [ SATB chorus ], from cantata In Windsor Forest, no. 5
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , "Wahn und Schmerz", appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936
Researcher for this page: Pauline Kroger
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-16
Line count: 18
Word count: 103