by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)
A crust of bread and a corner to sleep...
Language: English
A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in,
A minute to smile and an hour to weep in,
A pint of joy to a peck of trouble,
And never a laugh but the moans come double;
And that is life!
A crust and a corner that love makes precious,
With a smile to warm and the tears to refresh us;
And joy seems sweeter when cares come after,
And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter;
And that is life!
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Text Authorship:
- by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "Life", appears in Lyrics of Lowly Life, first published 1896 [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), "Life", 2009 [ low voice or medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jean Berger, né Arthur Schloßberg (1909 - 2002), "A crust of bread", published 1975 [ voice, SATB chorus, instrumental ensemble ], from Of Life [sung text not yet checked]
- by Herbert Haufrecht (1909 - 1998), "Life" [ SATB chorus a cappella, or voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Zenobia Powell (1908 - 2004), "Life", 1977-1983/1995 [ high voice and piano ], from Cycle of Songs on Poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mary Elizabeth Turner Salter (1856 - 1938), "Life", published 1916 [ low voice and piano ], from Five Songs [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-27
Line count: 10
Word count: 84