by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824)
What is the end of Fame?
Language: English
What is the end of fame? 'Tis but to fill A certain portion of uncertain paper. Some liken it to climbing up a hill, Whose summit, like all hills, is lost in vapour. For this men write, speak, preach, and heroes kill, And bards burn what they call their midnight taper, To have, when the original is dust, A name, a wretched picture, and worse bust.
Text Authorship:
- by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), appears in Don Juan, Canto 1, 218 [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 Roger Ascham (1864 - 1934), "What is the end of Fame?", op. 22 (Twelve Songs with Pianoforte Accompaniment) no. 2 (1882-1899), published c1910 [ voice and piano ], London, Charles Vincent [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2020-12-25
Line count: 8
Word count: 66