by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
O well for him who lives at ease
Language: English
O well for him who lives at ease With garnered gold in wide domain, Nor heeds the splashing of the rain, The crashing down of forest trees. O well for him who ne'er hath known The travail of the hungry years, A father grey with grief and tears, A mother weeping all alone. But well for him whose foot hath trod The weary road of toil and strife, Yet from the sorrows of his life. Builds ladders to be nearer God.
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Note: the poem is preceded by the following epigraph, a line from Agamemnon by Aeschylus:
αἴλινον αἴλινον εἰπέ, τὸ δ᾽ εὖ νικάτω
Text Authorship:
- by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), "Tristitiæ" [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 Michael Linton , "Tristitiæ", 2016-2017 [ bass-baritone and piano ], from Wilde songs, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William A. Schaeffer (b. 1918), "Heavenly ladders", published 1952 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2023-06-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 81