by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)
Swifter far than summers flight
Language: English
Swifter far than summers flight - Swifter far than youth's delight - Swifter far than happy night, Art thou come and gone - As the earth when leaves are dead, As the night when sleep is sped, As the heart when joy is fled, I am left lone, alone. The swallow summer comes again - The owlet night resumes her reign - But the wild-swan youth is fain To fly with thee, false as thou. - My heart each day desires the morrow; Sleep itself is turned to sorrow; Vainly would my winter borrow Sunny leaves from any bough. Lilies for a bridal bed - Roses for a matron's head - Violets for a maiden dead - Pansies let my flowers be : On the living grave I bear Scatter them without a tear - Let no friend, however dear, Waste one hope, one fear for me.
W. Hawley sets stanzas 1-2
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Remembrance" [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 Emil Gustave Ahnell (b. 1925), "Remembrance" [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Charles) Hamilton Aïdé (1826 - 1906), "A lament", published 1877 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Creighton Allen (1900 - 1969), "Remembrance", published 1954, from Shelley Songs, Cycle of Ten Songs, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alice Borton (flourished 1890), "Remembrance", published 1881 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Henry) Elliot Button (1861 - ?), "A lament", published 1910 [ SATB chorus ], note: melody based on a German folk song [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Hawley (b. 1950), "Remembrance", first performed 1995, stanzas 1-2 [ SSAATTBB chorus a cappella ], from Four Reveries, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Boleyne Reeves , "Swifter far than summers flight" [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Upomínka", Prague, J. Otto, first published 1901
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Dezső Kosztolányi) , "Síró dalocska"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-24
Line count: 24
Word count: 136