by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)
Lay me down beneaf de willers in de...
Language: English
Lay me down beneaf de willers in de grass, Whah de branch 'll go a-singin' as it pass. An' w'en I 's a-layin' low, I kin hyeah it as it go Singin', "Sleep, my honey, tek yo' res' at las'." Lay me nigh to whah hit meks a little pool, An' de watah stan's so quiet lak an' cool, Whah de little birds in spring, Ust to come an' drink an' sing, An' de chillen waded on dey way to school. Let me settle w'en my shouldahs draps dey load Nigh enough to hyeah de noises in de road; Fu' I t'ink de las' long res' Gwine to soothe my sperrit bes' Ef I's layin' 'mong de t'ings I's allus knowed.
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Text Authorship:
- by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "A death song", appears in Lyrics of the Hearthside, first published 1899 [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "A death song", 2012 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1861 - 1946), "De las' long res'", published c1901 [ voice and piano ], from Seven songs as unpretentious as the wild rose, no. 4, Chicago : Carrie Jacobs-Bond & Son [sung text not yet checked]
- by Howard Swanson (1907 - 1978), "A death song", published 1951 [ medium voice and piano ], note: words both in dialect and in written edited English [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-27
Line count: 15
Word count: 121