The old soldier | There came an Old Soldier to my door

by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956)

The old soldier

Language: English

There came an Old Soldier to my door,
Asked a crust, and asked no more;
The wars had thinned him very bare,
Fighting and marching everywhere,
  With a Fol rol dol rol di do.

With nose stuck out, and cheek sunk in,
A bristling beard upon his chin -
Powder and bullets and wounds and drums
Had come to that Soldier as suchlike comes -
  With a Fol rol dol rol di do.

'Twas sweet and fresh with buds of May,
Flowers springing from every spray;
And when he had supped the Old Soldier trolled
The song of youth that never grows old,
  Called Fol rol dol rol di do.

Most of him rags, and all of him lean,
And the belt round his belly drawn tightsome in
He lifted his peaked old grizzled head,
And these were the very same words he said-
  A Fol-rol-dol-rol-di-do.

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Text Authorship:

by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "The old soldier", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 4. Places and People, no. 10, first published 1913 [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 Bainbridge Crist (1883 - 1969), "The old soldier", c1919 [sung text not yet checked]
by Dorothy Dushkin , "The old soldier", published 1955 [ SSA chorus and woodwinds (trio) or piano ], from Three Songs for Women's Voices and Woodwind Trio or Piano [sung text not yet checked]
by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "The old soldier", published 1925 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Christian Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901 - 1947), "The old soldier", published 1927 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Herbert Norman Howells (1892 - 1983), "The old soldier", from A Garland for de la Mare, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Freda Mary Swain (1902 - 1985), "The old soldier", c1949-50 [ baritone and piano ], from From "Peacock Pie" [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-13
Line count: 20
Word count: 144