by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900)
The fire is out, and spent the warmth...
Language: English
The fire is out, and spent the warmth thereof (This is the end of every song man sings!) The golden wine is drunk, the dregs remain, Bitter as wormwood and as salt as pain; And health and hope have gone the way of love Into the drear oblivion of lost things. Ghosts go along with us until the end; This was a mistress, this, perhaps, a friend. With pale, indifferent eyes, we sit and wait For the dropt curtain and the closing gate: This is the end of all the songs man sings.
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Authorship:
- by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900), "Dregs", appears in Decorations, first published 1899 [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 David Bedford (b. 1937), "The golden wine is drunk", c1974 [ chorus of 16 solo voices ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson, née Richardson (1870 - 1946), as Henry Handel Richardson, "Dregs" [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2004-05-12
Line count: 11
Word count: 93