by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)
Bring, in this timeless grave to show
Language: English
Bring, in this timeless grave to throw No cypress, sombre on the snow; Snap not from the bitter yew His leaves that live December through; Break no rosemary, bright with rime And sparkling to the cruel crime; Nor plod the winter land to look For willows in the icy brook To cast them leafless round him: bring [To spray that ever buds in spring]1. But if the Christmas field has kept Awns the last gleaner overstept, Or shrivelled flax, whose flower is blue A single season, never two; Or if one haulm whose year is o'er Shivers on the upland frore, -- Oh, bring from hill and stream and plain Whatever will not flower again, To give him comfort: he and those Shall bide eternal bedfellows Where low upon the couch he lies Whence he never shall arise.
View original text (without footnotes)
1 A 1959 edition edited by John Carter amends this line to "No spray that ever buds in spring."
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
1 A 1959 edition edited by John Carter amends this line to "No spray that ever buds in spring."
Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), appears in A Shropshire Lad, no. 46, first published 1896 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Alan Leichtling , "Bring, in this timeless grave to show", published 1971 [baritone and orchestra], from Eleven Songs from "A Shropshire Lad" [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-09
Line count: 22
Word count: 137