Give me the strength and height
     Of glorious life;
     The dazzling light,
The straining and the strife,
     Love, passion, hope,
In their divinest scope.

High winds on mighty seas
     Not sheltered bay
     The storm that frees
Wild torrents great and gay
     With splendid power;
Not the soft springtime shower.

And if the storm should kill
     The torrent drown?
     So be it still.
Still let me snatch the crown
     Life has to give
And cry, but once, I live!

Confirmed with Hildegarde Hawthorne, Poems, Boston : Richard G. Badger, 1905, p.26

Text Authorship:

• by Hildegarde Hawthorne (1871 - 1952), "Life" [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):

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The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Laura Farnell (b. 1975), "Glorious Life", copyright © 2019 [ ssa chorus and piano ], JEHMS
      Publisher: Alliance Music Publication [external link]
  • View the full text. [sung text not yet checked]
    

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This text was added to the website: 2026-09-03
Line count: 18
Word count: 78