by Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)
The Sower's Song
Language: English
Now hands to seed-sheet, boys! We step and we cast; old Time’s on wing; And would ye partake of Harvest’s joys, The corn must be sown in spring. Fall gently and still, good corn, Lie warm in thy earthy bed; And stand so yellow some morn, For beast and man must be fed. Old earth is a pleasure to see In sunshiny cloak of red and green; The furrow lies fresh, this year will be As years that are past have been. Fall gently and still, good corn, Lie warm in thy earthy bed; And stand so yellow some morn, For beast and man must be fed. Old earth, receive this corn, The son of six thousand golden sires; All these on thy kindly breast were born; One more thy poor child requires. Fall gently and still, good corn, Lie warm in thy earthy bed; And stand so yellow some morn, For beast and man must be fed. Now steady and sure again, And measure of stroke and step we keep; Thus up and down we cast our grain; Sow well and you gladly reap. Fall gently and still, good corn, Lie warm in thy earthy bed; And stand so yellow some morn, For beast and man must be fed.
Confirmed with A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895, ed. by Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1895.
Authorship:
- by Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881), "The Sower's Song" [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 Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "The Sower's Song", published 1927 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-02-13
Line count: 32
Word count: 210