by William Allingham (1824 - 1889)
Ring‑Ting! I wish I were a Primrose
Language: English
Ring-Ting! I wish I were a Primrose, A bright yellow Primrose, blowing in the spring! The stooping boughs above me, The wandering bee to love me, The fern and moss to creep across, And the Elm tree for our king! Nay -- stay! I wish I were an Elm tree, A great, lofty Elm tree, with green leaves gay! The winds would set them dancing, The sun and moonshine glance in, The birds would house among the boughs, And sweetly sing. Oh no! I wish I were a Robin, A Robin or a little Wren, everywhere to go; Through forest, field, or garden, And ask no leave or pardon, Till winter comes with icy thumbs To ruffle up our wing! Well -- tell! Where should I fly to, Where go to sleep in the dark wood or dell? Before a day was over, Home comes the rover, For mother's kiss -- sweeter this Than any other thing.
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Authorship:
- by William Allingham (1824 - 1889), "Wishing", appears in Day and Night Songs, first published 1860 [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 Francis Boott (1813 - 1904), "Wishing", published 1859. [voice, piano] [ sung text not verified ]
- by William Wallace Gilchrist (1846 - 1916), "The primrose", published 1932 [2-part chorus, a cappella], from Sixth Book of Songs [ sung text not verified ]
- by Harvey Worthington Loomis (1865 - 1930), "Wishing", published 1917 [voices, piano], from Sixth Year Music [ sung text not verified ]
- by William Otto Miessner (1880 - 1967), "Wishing", published 1928-30 [unaccompanied voices], from The Music Hour [ sung text not verified ]
- by Elbridge Ward Newton (b. 1863), "Wishing", published 1927 [voice, piano], from The Home Edition [ sung text not verified ]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Wishing", published 1925. [unison chorus and piano] [ sung text not verified ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2005-12-21
Line count: 24
Word count: 154