by George Robert Charles Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke (1850 - 1895) and possibly by George Henry Kingsley (1827 - 1892)
The River of Life
Language: English
One day I was watching a boat Borne on by the wind and the tide, And into the rushes 'twould float That grew 'neath the bank on each side. For a moment perhaps it would stay, But their arms could not hold it for long, They broke, and the boat swept away, For the wind and the current were strong. As down the swift stream it was hurl'd, I fancied I heard these words spoken, "Few partings there are in this world In which friendly ties are not broken. "All are hard at the best to burst through, Some are bitter and painful to sever, While some, but alas! very few, Will stand time and distance for ever."
Confirmed with South Sea Bubbles by the Earl and the Doctor, Leipzig, Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1874, page 55, in Tahiti
Authorship:
- by George Robert Charles Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke (1850 - 1895), appears in South Sea Bubbles by the Earl and the Doctor, in 1. Tahiti [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- possibly by George Henry Kingsley (1827 - 1892), appears in South Sea Bubbles by the Earl and the Doctor, in 1. Tahiti [author's text checked 1 time 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 Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "The River of Life", published 1870 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-01-29
Line count: 16
Word count: 118