Translation by Rodney Bennett (1890 - 1948)
The Ash Grove
Language: English  after the Welsh (Cymraeg)
Away in the shadows a lone bird is singing, The wind whispers low in a sighing refrain; Their music makes memory’s voices go winging: The Ash Grove in beauty I see once again; The voices of friends that the log years have taken, Oh faintly I hear them, the song and the word. How much in the heart can so little awaken: The wind in the leaves and the song of a bird. How little we knew, as we laughed there so lightly, And time seemed to us to stretch endless away, The hopes that then shone like a vision so brightly Could fade as a dream at the coming of day! And still, spite of sorrow, whene’er I remember, My thoughts will return like a bird to the nest, No matter though summer may wane to December, And there in the ash grove my heart be at rest.
Authorship:
- by Rodney Bennett (1890 - 1948) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Welsh (Cymraeg) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
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 Quilter (1877 - 1953), "The Ash Grove", published 1947 [ voice and piano ], from The Arnold Book of Old Songs, no. 16, London, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Malcolm Gain
This text was added to the website: 2022-06-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 149