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by Richard Le Gallienne (1866 - 1947)

I meant to do my work to‑day
Language: English 
I meant to do my work to-day --
But a brown bird sang in the apple-tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.

And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand --
So what could I do but laugh and go?

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Richard Le Gallienne (1866 - 1947), no title, appears in The Lonely Dancer and Other Poems, first published 1914 [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), "What could I do?", 2009 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Karolyn Wells Bassett (1892 - 1931), "Called away", <<1931 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Dent Mowrey , "I meant to do my work to-day", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-08-16
Line count: 8
Word count: 60

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