Come to me in my dreams, and then
By day I shall be well again!
For [then]1 the night will more than pay
The hopeless longing of the day.

Come, as thou cam'st a thousand times,
A messenger from radiant climes,
And smile on thy new world, and be
As kind to [all the rest as]2 me.

Or, as thou never cam'st in sooth,
Come now, and let me dream it truth;
And part my hair, and kiss my brow,
And say - My love! why [sufferest]3 thou? 

Come to me in my dreams, and then
By day I shall be well again!
For [then]1 the night will more than pay
The hopeless longing of the day.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems B Fellowes, London, 1852, Page 83.

¹ Emery: "so"
² Emery, Fax, and Somervell: "others as to"
³ Bridge and Fax: "suff'rest"

Text Authorship:

• by Matthew Arnold (1822 - 1888), "Longing", appears in Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems, no. 6, first published 1852 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Charles Ainslie Barry (1830 - 1915), "Come to me in my dreams", published c1869 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Helen Benner , "Longing", published 1939 [ medium voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), "Come to me in my dreams", 1906, published 1918 [ voice, piano ], revised 1918 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Winifred May Bury (1897 - 1977), "Come to me in my dreams", 1946 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Noble Cain (1896 - 1977), "Longing", published <<1940 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henry Coates , "Longing", published [1912] [ voice and piano ], London: Novello ; may be incorrect text for this title [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bonita Crowe , "Longing", published <<1940 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Matthew Emery (b. 1991), "Longing", 2011 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Mark Fax (1911 - 1974), "Longing", published 1946, copyright © 1946 [ voice, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Samuel Richards Gaines (1869 - 1945), "Longing" [ medium voice and piano ], from Two Poems of Love, New York: G. Schirmer ; may be incorrect text for this title [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "Longing", published 1921 [ voice and piano ], from Two songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Haydn Keeton (b. 1847), "Longing", published [1913] [ four-part chorus (a cappella?) ], London: Novello ; may be incorrect text for this title [sung text not yet checked]
• by (William Frances) Lawrence Kellie (1862 - 1932), "Come to me in my dreams", published 1907 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gustav Klemm (1897 - 1947), "Come to me in my dreams", published <<1940 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Anthony Paganucci , "Longing", published 1930 [ high voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Amadeus Pisk (1893 - 1990), "Longing", 1938-9 [ voice and piano ], from 6 Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Come to me in my dreams", published 1935, copyright © 1936 [ voice, piano ], from Three Songs with Piano, no. 3, Boosey & Hawkes, confirmed with Century of English Song, Volume VIII Association of English Singers and Speakers, Printed by Good Music, Tewkesbury, 2016, Page 10. [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Cyril V. Taylor (b. 1907), "Longing", published 1935 [ medium voice or high voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Come to me in my dreams", published 1888 [ voice, piano ], London: Chappell [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Robert, vicomte d'Humières (1868 - 1915) ; composed by Sebastian Benson Schlesinger.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Ted Perry , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 116