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by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)

It was fifty years ago
Language: English 
It was fifty years ago,
In the pleasant month of May,
In the beautiful Pays de Vaud,
A child in its cradle lay.

And Nature, the old nurse, took
The child upon her knee,
Saying: Here is a story-book
Thy Father has written for thee.

Come, wander with me, she said,
Into regions yet untrod;
And read what is still unread
In the manuscripts of God.

And he wandered away and away
With Nature, the dear old nurse,
Who sang to him night and day
The rhymes of the universe.

And whenever the way seemed long,
Or his heart began to fail,
She would sing a more wonderful song,
Or tell a more marvellous tale.

So she keeps him still a child,
And will not let him go,
Though at times his heart beats wild
For the beautiful Pays de Vaud;

Though at times he hears in his dreams
The Ranz des Vaches of old,
And the rush of mountain streams
From glaciers clear and cold;

And the mother at home says, Hark!
For his voice I listen and yearn;
It is growing late and dark,
And my boy does not return!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882), "The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz", written 1858, appears in The Courtship of Miles Standish, and Other Poems, first published 1857 [author's text not yet checked 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 Otto Dresel (1826 - 1890), "The Lost Child", 1857 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Liptrot Hatton (1809 - 1886), "It was fifty years ago", published 187-? [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-09-25
Line count: 32
Word count: 192

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