by Edward Shanks (1892 - 1953)
As I lay in the early sun
Language: English
As I lay in the early sun, Stretched in the grass, I thought upon My true love, my dear love, Who has my heart forever Who is my happiness when we meet, My sorrow when we sever. She is all fire when I do burn, Gentle when I moody turn, Brave when I am sad and heavy And all laughter when I am merry. And so I lay and dreamed and dreamed, And so the day wheeled on, While all the birds with thoughts like mine Were singing to the sun.
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Text Authorship:
- by Edward Shanks (1892 - 1953), "Song", appears in The Queen of China and Other Poems, first published 1919 [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 Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "As I lay in the early sun", op. 13b no. 3, published 1966 [ high voice and piano ], from Oh fair to see, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "As I lay in the early sun", 1920, published 1920 [ voice and piano ], from Songs with Piano, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "As I lay in the early sun", 1920 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 91