The Poet's Life | A poet sang, so light of heart was he

by Sophie Jewett (1861 - 1909), as Ellen Burroughs

The Poet's Life

Language: English

Our translations: SPA

A poet sang, so light of heart was he,
A song that thrilled with joy in ev'ry word:
It quiver'd with ecstatic melody;
It laughed as sunshine laughs upon the sea;
It caught a measure from each lilting bird;
But, though the song rang out exultantly,
The world pass'd by, with heavy step and loud,
None heeding, save that, parted from the crowd,
Two lovers heard.

There fell a day when sudden sorrow smote
The poet's life. Unheralded it came,
Blotting the sun-touch'd page whereon he wrote
His golden song. Ah! then, from all remote,
He sang the grief that had nor hope nor name
In God's ear only; but one sobbing note
Reached the world's heart, and swiftly, in the wake
Of bitterness and passionate heart-break,
There follow'd fame.

Text Authorship:

by Sophie Jewett (1861 - 1909), as Ellen Burroughs [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 Edward Elgar, Sir (1857 - 1934), "The Poet's Life", 1892, published 1907, first performed 1897 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Lieder of Edward Elgar, no. 4, note: first published separately in 1892, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ed. Sachs ; composed by Edward Elgar, Sir.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 130