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by Francis Thompson (1859 - 1907)

Go, songs, for ended is our brief, sweet...
Language: English 
Go, songs, for ended is our brief, sweet play;
Go, children of swift joy and tardy sorrow:
And some are sung, and that was yesterday,
And some [are]1 unsung, and that may be tomorrow.

Go forth; and if it be o'er stony way,
Old joy can lend what newer grief must borrow:
And it was sweet, and that was yesterday,
And sweet is sweet, though purchased with sorrow.

Go, songs, and come not back from your far way:
And if men ask you why ye smile and sorrow,
Tell them ye grieve, for your hearts know Today,
Tell them ye smile, for your eyes know Tomorrow.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   J. Raynor 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 omitted by Raynor.

Text Authorship:

  • by Francis Thompson (1859 - 1907) [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 John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Envoy", 1972 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963), "Envoy", published 1944 [ high voice or medium voice and piano ], from Nine English Songs, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Go, Songs", op. 395 (1953), published 1971 [ voice and piano ] [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: 107

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