by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
What's there to tell?
Language: English
What's there to tell of the world
More than is told?
-- Into its vortex hurled,
Out of it rolled,
Can we yet more of the world
Find to be told?
Lalla-la, lu!
If some could last alive
Much might be told;
Yes, gladness might survive;
But they go cold --
Each and each late alive --
All their tale told.
Lalla-la, lu!
There's little more of the world,
Then, to be told;
Had ever life unfurled
Joys manifold,
There had been more of the world
Left to be told.
Lalla-la, lalla-la, lalla-la, lu!
Confirmed with The Collected Poems of Thomas Hardy, Wordsworth Editions, 1994,
pages 735-736.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), ""What's there to tell?"", subtitle: "Song", appears in Human Shows, Far Phantasies, Songs, and Trifles, first published 1925 [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 Seymour J. Shifrin (b. 1926), "What's there to tell?", published 1974 [mezzo-soprano, flute, piccolo, clarinet, violin, violoncello, contrabass, and piano], from Satires of Circumstance [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2013-12-01
Line count: 21
Word count: 91