Beat the drums of tragedy for me. Beat the drums of tragedy and death. And let the choir sing a stormy song To drown out the rattle of my dying breath. Beat the drums of tragedy for me. And let the white violins whir thin and slow, But blow one blaring trumpet note of sun To go with me to the darkness where I go.
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Text Authorship:
- by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967) [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 H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932), "Drums of Tragedy", from Nightsongs, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-10
Line count: 8
Word count: 65