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by George Cooper (1840 - 1927)

Only to meet
Language: English 
Only to meet in a dream of delight,
only to gaze into eyes that are bright;
only to walk 'neath the blossoms of spring,
only dear hands that so lovingly cling!
After it all comes the cloud of despair,
after it all comes the tempest of care!
Only to linger awhile 'neath the spell,
only to meet, then to whisper: "Farewell!"

Only to meet and to love while we may,
fairest of buds will the soonest decay.
Only to stray in a vision awhile,
only to live in the light of a smile.
After it all, soon the vision is flown,
after it all we must wander alone.
Sadly the heart and its mem'ries will tell,
life is but meeting and whisp'ring: "Farewell!"

Text Authorship:

  • by George Cooper (1840 - 1927) [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 Franz Wilhelm Abt (1819 - 1885), "Only to meet", op. 435 no. 4, published 1873 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Lieder mit Pianoforte zu englishchen Gedichten von George Cooper, no. 4, Berlin, Krüger, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Franz Wilhelm Abt.
      • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2020-11-07
Line count: 16
Word count: 123

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