by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)
Here are the skies, the planets seven
Language: English
Here are the skies, the planets seven And all the starry train; Content you with the mimic heaven, And on the earth remain. Ask me no more, for fear I should reply; Others have held their tongues, and so can I; Hundreds have died, and told no tale before: Ask me no more, for fear I should reply -- How one was true and one was clean of stain And one was braver than the heavens are high, And one was fond of me; and all are slain. Ask me no more, for fear I should reply.
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: this poem was separated into two untitled poems in Additional Poems: Here are the skies, the planets seven and Ask me no more, for fear I should reply.Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), no title, appears in A. E. H., first published 1937 [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 Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "The starry train", c1965-68. [text not verified]
- by Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912 - 1990), "Mimic heaven", published 1952 [medium voice and piano], from Five Songs, no. 1. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 96