Never, no never, listen too long,
To the chattering wind in the willow, the night bird's song.
'Tis sad in sooth to lie under the grass,
But none too gladsome to wake and grow cold where life's shadows pass.
Dumb the old Toll-Woman squats,
And, for every green copper battered and worn, doles out Nevers and Nots.
I know a Blind Man, too,
Who with a sharp ear listens and listens the whole world through.
Oh, sit we snug to our feast,
With platter and finger and spoon - and good victuals at least.
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Confirmed with Walter De la Mare, The Sunken Garden and Other Poems, Beaumont Press, London, 1917, page 26.
Text Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), as Walter de la Mare, "The Fool’s Song", appears in The Sunken Garden and Other Poems, first published 1917 [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 Imogen Clare Holst (1907 - 1984), "The Fool’s Song", subtitle: "Never, no never, listen too long", 1925 [ soprano, 2 violins, and cello ], from Three Songs, no. 2, voice must be treble voice [sung text not yet checked]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2021-02-23
Line count: 10
Word count: 94