by (Frederic) Herbert Trench (1865 - 1923)
I heard a soldier
Language: English
I heard a soldier sing some trifle Out in the sun-dried veldt alone; He lay and cleaned his grimy rifle Idly, behind a stone. "If after death, love, comes a waking, And in their camp so dark and still The men of dust hear bugles, breaking Their halt upon the hill, "To me the slow, the silver pealing That then the last high trumpet pours Shall softer than the dawn come stealing, For, with its call, comes yours!" What grief of love had he to stifle, Basking so idly by his stone, That grimy soldier with his rifle Out in the veldt, alone?
Text Authorship:
- by (Frederic) Herbert Trench (1865 - 1923), "I heard a soldier", appears in New Poems, first published 1907 [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 Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), "I heard a soldier", 1924, published 1926, copyright © 1943 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "I heard a soldier", 1925 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Holbrooke (1878 - 1958), "I heard a soldier", op. 29 no. 2 (1907), published 1908 [ voice and piano ], from Six Modern Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-31
Line count: 16
Word count: 103