Ah, Love, but a day,
And the world has changed!
The sun's away,
And the bird estranged;
The wind has dropped,
And the sky's deranged;
Summer has stopped.
Look in my eyes!
Wilt thou change too?
Should I fear surprise?
Shall I find aught new
In the old and dear,
In the good and true,
With the changing year?
Thou art a man,
But I am thy love.
For the lake, its swan;
For the dell, its dove;
And for thee — (oh, haste!)
Me, to bend above,
Me, to hold embraced.
A. Beach sets stanzas 1-2
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 - 1944), "Ah, Love, but a day", op. 44 (Three Browning Songs) no. 2, published c1900, stanzas 1-2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hallet Gilberté (1872 - 1946), "Ah, Love, but a day" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julian Pascal , "Ah, love, but a day", published 1900 [ medium voice and piano ], Boston, Oliver Ditson [sung text not yet checked]
- by Clara Kathleen Rogers (1844 - 1931), "Ah Love, but a day", op. 27 no. 4, published 1893 [ voice and piano ], from Browning songs (First Series), no. 4, Boston : Arthur P. Schmidt and Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Clara Kathleen Rogers (1844 - 1931), "Ah, love, but a day", op. 28 (Three Songs) no. 2, published 1893 [ voice and piano ], Boston : Arthur P. Schmidt and Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "James Lee's wife speaks at the window", 1906, published 1907 [ mezzo-soprano and orchestra or piano ], from James Lee's Wife, no. 1, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Sharon Krebs) , "Ach, Geliebter, nur ein Tag", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Denise Ritter Bernardini) , "Ah, l'amore, ma un giorno", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 92
Ah, l'amore, ma un giorno,
E il mondo è cambiato!
Via del sole,
E l'uccello estraneo;
Il vento è calato,
E il cielo della squilibrato;
L'estate è fermato.
Guardami negli occhi!
Vuoi tu cambiare troppo?
Dovrei temere sorpresa?
Devo trovare tutto nuovo?
Nel vecchio e caro,
In buono e vero,
Con l'anno che cambia?