Tomorrow
Language: English 
The Mourner:
 When you are gone,
 the birds will stop their singing,
 When you are dead,
 no sun will ever rise.
 No more, no more 
 the joyful days upspringing
 shall bless these eyes.

 When you are in your grave,
 the flowers blowing
 shall hang their heads
 [and sicken in their grove]1.
 Beauty will fade 
 and wither at your going,
 oh my own love.

The Dying One:
 [Ah, say not so,]2
 another love will cheer you.
 [The sun will shine]3
 as bright tomorrow morn.
 The birds will sing,
 though I no longer near you
 must lie forlorn.

 When I am in my grave,
 the flowers blowing
 shall make you garlands
 twenty times as sweet.
 Beauty will live,
 though I must sleep
 unknowing beneath thy feet.

View original text (without footnotes)

Note: some recordings leave out the words of the Mourner. Some versions also retain the original's use of "thee" instead of "you".

1 in some versions: " 'neath the grey skies above"
2 in the film: "When I am dead"
3 in the film: "The sun will rise"

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):


Researcher for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2005-10-12
Line count: 30
Word count: 128