by John Masefield (1878 - 1967)
We lay on the reeds
Language: English
We lay on the reeds In the marshy places. They cried for food, For the sweet cakes of old. "Father, father, I am so hungry! May I have a rice-cake? I have had no rice-cake All to-day." All around Were the marshy places. They cried for food, Those sons of mine. "Father," they said, "Will it soon be food-time?" Can you feed us, father?" I told them, "No." And then they cried. Kira it was, The great Lord Kira, Who burnt our home And drove us forth. It was his deed That starved my children, My little sons in the wild swans' lair. We cannot kill him, We cannot harm him, We cannot rob him Of a moment's pleasure, The unatoned blood Cries unheeded. We are poor men Lost in the snow.
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Authorship:
- by John Masefield (1878 - 1967), "Song of the Fifth Ronin", appears in The Faithful: A Tragedy in Three Acts, first published 1915 [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 Ralph Greaves (1889 - 1966), "Song of Ronin", published <<1940 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-31
Line count: 34
Word count: 132