by James Gates Percival (1795 - 1856)
My hopes have departed forever
Language: English
My hopes have departed forever, My vision of true love is o'er; My heart shall awaken, ah! never; There's joy for my bosom no more. The roses that crowned me are blighted, The garland I cherished is dead, The faith once confidingly plighted Is broke, and my loved one has fled. They saw that my life was decaying, They knew that my stay would be brief; And still, though my spirit was straying, I told not a word of my grief. No whisper revealed my deceiver No ear heard me sigh or complain; My heart still adored still adored its bereaver And longed but to meet him again. He came, but another had rifled His heart of the love once my own, I grieved, but my anguish was stifled, And shrank from his cold formal tone. The is now sinking in billows, That roll in the far distant west, But morning will shine through the willows, And find me forever at rest.
Authorship:
- by James Gates Percival (1795 - 1856) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864), "My hopes have departed forever", published 1851. [voice and piano] [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Laura Prichard [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2015-12-26
Line count: 24
Word count: 162