by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
I am playing my oldest tunes," declared...
Language: English
"I am playing my oldest tunes," declared she, "All the old tunes I know, - Those I learnt ever so long ago." - Why she should think just then she'd play them Silence cloaks like snow. When I returned from the town at nightfall Notes continued to pour As when I had left two hours before: It's the very last time," she said in closing; "From now I play no more." A few morns onward found her fading, And, as her life outflew, I thought of her playing her tunes right through; And I felt she had known of what was coming, And wondered how she knew.
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Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The last performance", written 1912, appears in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses, first published 1917 [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 Barbara Rawling , "The old tunes", published 1965 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-18
Line count: 15
Word count: 105