by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)
The lamplighter
Language: English
Available translation(s): ITA
My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky; It's time to take the window to see Leerie going by; For every night at teatime and before you take your seat, With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street. Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea, And my papa's a banker and as rich as he can be; But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I'm to do, O Leerie, I'll go round at night and light the lamps with you! For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door, And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more; And O! before you hurry by with ladder and with light, O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him tonight.
Authorship
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The lamplighter", 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 Ethel Crowningshield , "The lamplighter", published 1910 [voice and piano], from Robert Louis Stevenson Songs [text not verified]
- by Henry John Edwards (1854 - 1933), "The lamplighter", published 1913. [SATB chorus a cappella] [text not verified]
- by Sven Lekberg (1899 - 1984), "The lamplighter", published 1959. [SATB chorus a cappella] [text not verified]
- by Daniel Gregory Mason (1873 - 1953), "The lamplighter", published <<1940 [voice and piano], from Five Children's Songs [text not verified]
- by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "The lamplighter", op. 5 no. 2, published 1914 [voice and piano], from Four Child Songs, no. 2, Chappell [text verified 1 time]
- by Alec Rowley (1892 - 1958), "The lamplighter", published <<1967. [unison chorus and piano] [text not verified]
- by Thomas Griffen (Griffin?) Shepard (1848 - 1905), "The lamplighter", published 1901 [voice and piano], from A cycle of songs [text not verified]
- by Eleanor Smith , "The lamplighter", published <<1940 [voice and piano], from Song Pictures [text not verified]
- by Ronald Stevenson (b. 1928), "The lamplighter", 1961 [medium voice and piano], from Four Robert Louis Stevenson Songs [text not verified]
- by John Brown Russell Whitfield , "The lamplighter", published 1958. [unison chorus and piano] [text not verified]
- by Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson (b. 1931), "The lamplighter", published 1968 [high voice and piano], from From a child's garden, no. 10. [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , title 1: "Il lampionaio", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 139