The quern song (Graves, set by (Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir)) (The LiederNet Archive: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)

by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931)

The quern song

Language: English

Maids, at morn, grind the good corn
Each in her mill with a will!
In go the oats, wheat and pearly barley,
Down in a shower falls the flour.

Winding strong, grinding all day long,
Round and round goes the mill;
Grinding turn-about, till the meal is out, 
Must never, never be still.

Those hands that are strongest
Will find a welcome here,
And they who work the longest
Shall earn the best cheer.

Those hands that are strongest
Will find a welcome here,
And they who work the longest
Shall earn the best cheer.

Winding strong, grinding all day long,
Round and round goes the mill;
Grinding turn-about, till the meal is out, 
Must never, never be still.

Authorship

by Alfred Perceval Graves (1846 - 1931) [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 Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "The quern song", op. 76 no. 27, published 1901 [voice and piano], from Songs of Erin, no. 27, London, Boosey [
text verified 1 time
]

Researcher for this text: Mike Pearson

This text was added to the website: 2016-09-13
Line count: 20
Word count: 119