Remembrance | Swifter far than summers flight

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