by John Clare (1793 - 1864)
Ploughman singing
Language: English
Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky, And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet, Shows not her sleeve of grey to know her by. Woke early, I arose and thought that first In winter-time of all the world was I. The old owls might have hallooed if they durst, But joy just then was up and whistled by A merry tune which I had known full long, But could not to my [mem'ry]1 wake it back, Until the ploughman changed it to the song. O happiness, how simple is thy track! -Tinged like the willow shoots, the east's young brow Glows red and finds thee singing at the plough.
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Clare: "memory"
Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe
1 Clare: "memory"
Text Authorship:
- by John Clare (1793 - 1864), "Ploughman singing", appears in John Clare: Poems, first published 1920 [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 Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Ploughman singing", 1920, published 1952 [ voice, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 121