Song: How sweet I roam'd from field to field | How sweet I roam'd | How sweet I roam'd from field to field

How sweet I roam'd from field to field

Language: English

 How sweet I roam'd from field to field, 
   And tasted all the summer's pride,
 'Till I the prince of love beheld,
   Who in the sunny beams did glide!

 He shew'd me lilies for my hair,
   And blushing roses for my brow;
 He led me through his gardens fair,
   Where all his golden pleasures grow.

 With sweet May dews my wings were wet,
   And Phoebus fir'd my vocal rage;
 He caught me in his silken net,
   And shut me in his golden cage.

 He loves to sit and hear me sing,
   Then, laughing, sports and plays with me;
 Then stretches out my golden wing,
   And mocks my loss of liberty.

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Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Song: How sweet I roam'd from field to field", appears in Poetical Sketches, first published 1783 [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 Malcolm Henry Arnold (1921 - 2006), "How sweet I roam'd", op. 66 no. 3 (1959), published 1966, from Five William Blake Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Leslie R. Bassett (b. 1923), "The bird", 1953, published c1957, first performed 1953 [ high voice and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 2, NY : American Composers Alliance [sung text not yet checked]
by Maurice Blower (1894 - 1982), "How sweet I roam'd", published c1959 [ SSA chorus and piano? ] [sung text not yet checked]
by John Buckley (b. 1951), "Song", 1973, first performed 1974 [ soprano, flute, and piano ], from The Seasonable Month, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Felix Corbett (1861 - 1940), "Prince of Love", published 1889 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Sharon Davis (b. 1937), "Song", op. 4 no. 1, published 1977 [ soprano and clarinet ], from Three Poems of William Blake, no. 1, Los Angeles : Avant Music [sung text not yet checked]
by Vernon Duke (1903 - 1969), "How sweet I roam'd", published c1955 [ medium voice and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 4, NY : Broude Bros. [sung text not yet checked]
by Henry Balfour Gardiner (1877 - 1950), "How sweet I roam'd from field to field ", 1895 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "Love's prisoner", 1933, published 1933 [ voice and piano ], London : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Gilbertson , "How sweet I roam'd from field to field ", published 1900 [ high voice and piano ], from Two Songs, no. 2, London : Weekes & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Alan Gray (1855 - 1935), "How sweet I roam'd", published 1904 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], London : Bosworth & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "How sweet I roamed", op. 27c no. 8 (1973), first performed 1980 [ mezzo-soprano, flute, viola, and violoncello ], from Three "Summer Songs", no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Alfred Matthew Hale (1875 - 1960), "How sweet I roam'd from field to field", op. 29 no. 4, published 1913 [ voice, piano, and violin obbligato ], from Five Songs, no. 4, London : A. Lengnick [sung text not yet checked]
by Basil Harwood (1859 - 1949), "How sweet I roam'd from field to field ", op. 53 no. 2, published c1933 [ satb chorus a cappella ], partsong; London, Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Isabel Hearne , "How sweet I roam'd", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], from Two Lyrics, no. 1, London : Schott & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Clarence S. Hill , "How sweet I roam'd", published 1911-3 [ medium voice and piano ], from Three Songs by Blake, no. 3, London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Helen C. Howarth , "A song", published c1909 [ medium voice and piano ], from 7 songs of William Blake, no. 4, London ; New York : Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
by Herbert William Ivey (1875 - ?), "How sweet I roam'd from field to field ", published c1912 [ medium voice and piano ], London : Schott & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Henry Festing Jones (1851 - 1928), "How sweet I roam'd from field to field ", published 1904 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Three Four-Part Songs, no. 3, London: Weekes & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by (Martin) William Karlins (1932 - 2005), "Song for Soprano", published 1963, first performed 1981 [ soprano, flute, and violoncello ], New York, American Composers Alliance [sung text not yet checked]
by Frank Lewin (1925 - 2008), "Song: How sweet I roam'd", published 1960, first performed 1961 [ soprano and chamber ensemble ], from Innocence and Experience, no. 2, New York, American Composers Alliance [sung text not yet checked]
by John Mitchell (b. 1941), "How sweet I roam'd", op. 1 no. 5 (1964), rev. 1977, from Seven Songs from William Blake, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by J. Mueller (flourished 1884-1905), "How sweet I roam'd", published 1906 [ high voice and piano ], London : J. Williams [sung text not yet checked]
by Laurence Powell (1899 - 1990), "How sweet I roamed", op. 21 no. 2, published c1924 [ SSA chorus and piano ], Boston : C. C. Birchard [sung text not yet checked]
by Desmond Hayward Ratcliffe (1917 - 2001), "How sweet I roam'd", published 1951 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Joseph Roff (1910 - 1993), "How sweet I roamed", published c1954 [ SAB chorus and piano ], Philadelphia, Elkan-Vogel Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Winthrop L. Rogers , "How sweet I roam'd", published c1915 [ high voice and piano ], from Three Poems by William Blake, no. 2, NY : G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Schwartz (1907 - 1999), "How sweet I roam'd from field to field ", 196-? [ voice and piano ], from Blake Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "The golden cage", op. 49 no. 1 (1987-8) [ soprano and instrumental ensemble (six instruments) ], from Songs of Love and Madness, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Margaret Ada Sutherland (1897 - 1984), "How sweet I roamed", c1950, published c1973 [ voice and piano ], from Four Blake Songs, no. 3, Sydney : J. Albert & Sons (Belwin-Mills) [sung text not yet checked]
by Christopher Joseph Thomas (1894 - ?), "How sweet I roam'd", published c1953 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], NY : H. W. Gray (Belwin-Mills) [sung text not yet checked]
by James Oldfield Turner (1905 - ?), "How sweet I roamed", published c1952 [ high voice or medium voice and piano ], London : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
by Herbert Walter Wareing (1857 - 1918), "How sweet I roamed from field to field ", published c1919 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], Boston : Arthur P. Schmidt Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Leonard Pascoe Williams , "How sweet I roamed", published c1933 [ voice and piano ], London : E. Ashdown [sung text not yet checked]
by Patrick Williams (1905 - 1985), "How sweet I roamed from field to field", published 197 [ 2-part chorus ], London : Bosworth & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Judith Lang Zaimont , "How sweet I roam'd ", published c1976 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Three Ayres, no. 3, NY : Broude Bros. [sung text not yet checked]
by Judith Lang Zaimont , "How sweet I roam'd", 1974 [ soprano, tenor, flute, violoncello, and harp ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 109

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