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by Dylan Thomas (1914 - 1953)

Was there a time
Language: English 
Was there a time when dancers with their fiddles 
In children's circuses coul stay their troubles? 
There was a time they could cry over books, 
But time has set its maggot on their track. 
Under the arc of the sky they are unsafe. 
What's never known is safest in this life. 
Under the skysigns they who have no arms 
Have cleanest hands, and, as the heartless ghost 
Alone's unhurt, so the blind man sees best.

Text Authorship:

  • by Dylan Thomas (1914 - 1953) [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 Peter Dickinson (b. 1934), "Was there a time", from A Dylan Thomas Song Cycle, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ron Ford (b. 1959), "Was there a time", 1985, from Four songs on texts of Dylan Thomas, no. 1 [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: 9
Word count: 75

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