by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)
I woke before the morning
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE
I woke before the morning, I was happy all the day, I never said an ugly word, but smiled and stuck to play. And now at last the sun is going down behind the wood, And I am very happy, for I know that I've been good. My bed is waiting cool and fresh, with linen smooth and fair, And I must off to sleep again, and not forget my prayer. I know that, till tomorrow I shall see the sun arise, No ugly dream shall fright my mind, no ugly sight my eyes, But slumber hold me tightly till I waken in the dawn, And hear the thrushes singing in the lilacs round the lawn.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "A good boy", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885 [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 Homer Newton Bartlett (1845 - 1920), "A good boy", published 1897 [ voice and piano ], from The Stevenson Song-Book [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Crawford , "A good boy", published 1915 [ voice and piano ], from Songs with Music from "A Child's Garden of Verses", no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), "A good boy", 1915, published 1917 [ medium voice and piano ], from Five Little Songs, no. 5, Éd. Heugel, also set in French (Français) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "A good child", op. 5 no. 1, published 1914, rev. 1945 [ voice and piano ], from Four Child Songs, no. 1, Chappell [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "A Good Boy", op. 100 (1946) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Teresa del Riego (c1876 - 1968), "Sleepsin-by", published 1909 [ voice and piano ], from Children's pictures [sung text not yet checked]
- by Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson (1931 - 2003), "A good boy", published 1968 [ high voice and piano ], from From a child's garden, no. 11 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Maurice Léna (1859 - 1928) ; composed by Reynaldo Hahn.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Sylvain Labartette) , "Un gentil garçon", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 116