by Rupert Brooke (1887 - 1915)
Now, God be thanked Who has matched us...
Language: English
Now, God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour, And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping, With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power, To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping, Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary, Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move, And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary, And all the little emptiness of love! Oh! we, who have known shame, we have found release there, Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending, Naught broken save this body, lost but breath; Nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there But only agony, and that has ending; And the worst friend and enemy is but Death.
About the headline (FAQ)
First published in New Numbers, December 1914Text Authorship:
- by Rupert Brooke (1887 - 1915), "Peace", appears in 1914, no. 1 [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 Wayne L. Davies (b. 1975), "Peace" [text verified 1 time]
- by Ruth Gipps (1921 - 1999), "Peace 1914" [soprano or tenor and piano], from Four Songs of Youth [text not verified]
- by Alan Gray (1855 - 1935), "Peace", published <<1967 [SATB chorus and organ], from 1914, no. 1. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 124