by William Allingham (1824 - 1889)
Good‑bye, good‑bye to Summer!
Language: English
Good-bye, good-bye to Summer! For Summer's nearly done; The garden smiling faintly, Cool breezes in the sun; Our Thrushes now are silent, Our Swallows flown away, -- But Robin's here, in coat of brown, With ruddy breast-knot gay. Robin, Robin Redbreast, O Robin dear! Robin singing sweetly In the falling of the year. Bright yellow, red, and orange, The leaves come down in hosts; The trees are Indian Princes, But soon they'll turn to Ghosts; The scanty pears and apples Hang russet on the bough, It's Autumn, Autumn, Autumn late, 'Twill soon be Winter now. Robin, Robin Redbreast, O Robin dear! And welaway! my Robin, For pinching times are near. The fireside for the Cricket, The wheatstack for the Mouse, When trembling night-winds whistle And moan all round the house; The frosty ways like iron, The branches plumed with snow, -- Alas! in Winter, dead and dark, Where can poor Robin go? Robin, Robin Redbreast, O Robin dear! And a crumb of bread for Robin, His little heart to cheer.
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Text Authorship:
- by William Allingham (1824 - 1889), "Robin Redbreast", appears in Poems, first published 1861 [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 (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "Goodbye to Summer", published 1914. [SA chorus a cappella] [text not verified]
- by Henry Clough-Leighter (1874 - 1956), "Robin Redbreast", published 1933 [chorus a cappella], from Rhythm Songs [text not verified]
- by Friedrich Gernsheim (1839 - 1916), "Robin Redbreast", published 1915 [voices a cappella], from The Progressive Music Series [text not verified]
- by J. M. Hubbard , "Robin Redbreast", published 1882 [voice, piano], from Treasury of Song for the Home Circle [text not verified]
- by E. W. Johns , "Robin Redbreast", published 1918 [SSA chorus piano], from Junior Songs [text not verified]
- by Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer (1882 - 1957), "Good-bye to Summer", published 1914. [unison chorus and piano] [text not verified]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Robin Redbreast", published 1907. [2-part women's chorus a cappella] [text not verified]
- by Eric Harding Thiman (1900 - 1975), "Robin Redbreast", published 1935. [SA chorus and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2005-12-19
Line count: 36
Word count: 168