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by Arthur Christopher Benson (1862 - 1925)

Speak, speak, music, and bring to me
Language: English 
Speak, speak, music, and bring to me
Fancies too fleet for me,
Sweetness too sweet for me,
Wake, wake, voices, and sing to me,
   Sing to me tenderly; bid me rest.

Rest, rest! ah, I am fain of it!
Die, Hope! small was my gain of it!
   Song, [song] take thy parable,
   Whisper, whisper that all is well,

Say, say that there tarrieth
Something, something more true than death,
   Waiting to smile for me; bright and blest.

Thrill, thrill, string: echo and play for me
All, all that the poet, the priest cannot say for me;
Soar, voice, soar, heavenwards, and pray for me,
   Wondering, wandering; bid me rest.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Arthur Christopher Benson (1862 - 1925), "The song", appears in The Professor [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 Edward Elgar, Sir (1857 - 1934), "Speak, music", op. 41 (Two Songs) no. 2 (1901), published 1902, first performed 1901 [ 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: 16
Word count: 109

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