by Stevie Smith (1903 - 1971)
Up and down
Language: English
Up and down the streets they go Tapping tapping to and fro What they see I do not know Up and down the streets they hurry Push and rush and jerk and worry Full of ineffectual flurry Up and down the streets they run From morning to the set of sun I shall be glad when they have done I shall be glad when there's an end Of all the noise that doth offend My soul. Still Night, don cloak, descend.
Text Authorship:
- by Stevie Smith (1903 - 1971), "Up and down", appears in a good time was had by all, first published 1937 [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 (Agnes) Elisabeth Lutyens (1906 - 1983), "Up and down", 1948, published 1948 [ voice and piano ], from Stevie Smith Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 81